SgtJim
01-28-2011, 09:38 AM
first news:
Kabul - Six civilians were killed and seven were injured in an explosion that rocked the diplomatic enclave of the Afghan capital Friday, officials said.
The blast took place in a supermarket in Wazir Akbar Khan, an area in central Kabul which houses almost all the foreign embassies, said Mohammad Zahir, head of Kabul's criminal investigations department.
"There were six deaths and foreigners were also among them," Zahir said.
Hashmat Stanikzai, spokesman for the Kabul police, said that two civilians were killed and seven others were injured.
Another police official at the site of the attack, who did not want to be named, said that two foreign nationals were among those killed.
The Finest grocery shop was frequented by foreigners. Officials did not give a cause of the blast.
"We think it was the work of a suicide bomber, but we are not sure and we are investigating it," Zahir said.
Tolo, a private broadcaster, reported that the blast that was caused by hand grenades.other source and update:
Eight people, including three foreign women, have been killed in a Taliban suicide-bomb attack on Kabul supermarket popular with expatriates 9783
Afghan security personnel secure the site of a bomb blast near the main gate of supermarket 'Finest' in Wazir Akbar Khan area of Kabul
Hasmatullah Stanikzai, a Kabul police spokesman, said the attack, which tool place at the Finest supermarket, said three staff were also injured in the attack. He was unable to confirm the nationalities of those killed.
Zabiullah Mujahid, a Taliban spokesman, claimed responsibility for the attack, which he said had targeted private security contractors.
"Some employees and the head of Blackwater, a private security firm, who were shopping in a supermarket in Kabul have been attacked by one of our men," Mujahid said. "We claim credit for this attack".
Mujahid said the attacker opened fire in the supermarket before blowing himself up.
Although Kabul residents and officials say security has improved in the capital over the past two years, it continues to be regularly targeted by the Taliban
real update:
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) - A suicide bomber blew himself up inside a Western-style grocery store on Friday in Kabul,
killing at least nine people in what was the deadliest attack in the capital against a location frequented by foreigners in just over a year.
Three foreign women and one child, whose nationality was not known, were among the dead,
Kabul Police Chief Mohammad Ayub Salangi told reporters at the scene.
Six others were wounded, including two who suffered critical injuries, he said.
The Taliban claimed responsibility, saying the attack was against a U.S.-based security contractor.
"It was one suicide attacker," said Sayed Bashir, a member of the Ministry of Interior's criminal investigation team.
"We found the two legs of the suicide bomber."
Attacks in the Afghan capital have fallen off in recent months and the explosion in the Wazir Akbar Khan district,
considered one of the safest in the city, alarmed diplomats and other members of the international community.
The heavily guarded district is home to many foreigners and wealthy Afghans - many who shop at the pricey store.
Ahmad Zaki, another member of the criminal investigation unit, said the suicide bomber threw at least one grenade
and fired shots, prompting customers to run to another area of the store.
"Then he blew himself up," Zaki said.
The explosion ignited a small fire in the frozen food section. Black, acrid smoke filled the main floor of the two-story store.
Mounds of canned goods, boxes of cereal and other merchandise were strewn across the floor, making it difficult for police
officers and rescuers to walk around. More than an hour after the 2:30 p.m. blast, a charred smell still permeated the store.
"I was inside the store," Mary Hayden, a Western consultant, said recounting the attack.
"To my left, I heard a gunshot. A bomb went off. Everyone was running to the back of the building."
Afghan President Hamid Karzai condemned the attack and said the "enemies of Afghanistan are so desperate that
they are now killing civilians, including women, inside a food market."
He said attacks against women "are not part of Afghan culture or Islam. This is an attack against Islam."
In a text message sent to reporters,
Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid wrote: "It was an attack on the chief of Blackwater."
Blackwater Worldwide, based in North Carolina, is now called Xe Services.
The store was full of foreign customers, according to Moujib, a 14-year-old Afghan boy who uses just one name.
"I was on the first floor and we heard a boom," he said,
crying and clinging to his mother. "I might have heard some shooting. Then I saw fire everywhere."
Another eyewitness, Mohammad Parwais, said he also heard gunfire.
"We were waiting for a car and we heard some shooting inside the supermarket and then the explosion," Parwais said.
More than 100 policemen responded to the scene where people were using hoses to clear glass
and blood stains from the pavement.
The bodies, some wrapped in posters that had been displayed inside the store, were taken away in ambulances
and the back of pickup trucks. One woman killed in the blast was partially covered in a towel,
but her mangled legs and black, high-heeled boots were visible.
Yama, an Afghan man who sells phone cards at a traffic circle just outside the store, said he heard gunfire
and hit the ground. He and other sellers then rushed inside to help injured and dazed customers from the store.
"They were looking around like they didn't know what had happened," he said. "Their eyes were wide open."
Kabul - Six civilians were killed and seven were injured in an explosion that rocked the diplomatic enclave of the Afghan capital Friday, officials said.
The blast took place in a supermarket in Wazir Akbar Khan, an area in central Kabul which houses almost all the foreign embassies, said Mohammad Zahir, head of Kabul's criminal investigations department.
"There were six deaths and foreigners were also among them," Zahir said.
Hashmat Stanikzai, spokesman for the Kabul police, said that two civilians were killed and seven others were injured.
Another police official at the site of the attack, who did not want to be named, said that two foreign nationals were among those killed.
The Finest grocery shop was frequented by foreigners. Officials did not give a cause of the blast.
"We think it was the work of a suicide bomber, but we are not sure and we are investigating it," Zahir said.
Tolo, a private broadcaster, reported that the blast that was caused by hand grenades.other source and update:
Eight people, including three foreign women, have been killed in a Taliban suicide-bomb attack on Kabul supermarket popular with expatriates 9783
Afghan security personnel secure the site of a bomb blast near the main gate of supermarket 'Finest' in Wazir Akbar Khan area of Kabul
Hasmatullah Stanikzai, a Kabul police spokesman, said the attack, which tool place at the Finest supermarket, said three staff were also injured in the attack. He was unable to confirm the nationalities of those killed.
Zabiullah Mujahid, a Taliban spokesman, claimed responsibility for the attack, which he said had targeted private security contractors.
"Some employees and the head of Blackwater, a private security firm, who were shopping in a supermarket in Kabul have been attacked by one of our men," Mujahid said. "We claim credit for this attack".
Mujahid said the attacker opened fire in the supermarket before blowing himself up.
Although Kabul residents and officials say security has improved in the capital over the past two years, it continues to be regularly targeted by the Taliban
real update:
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) - A suicide bomber blew himself up inside a Western-style grocery store on Friday in Kabul,
killing at least nine people in what was the deadliest attack in the capital against a location frequented by foreigners in just over a year.
Three foreign women and one child, whose nationality was not known, were among the dead,
Kabul Police Chief Mohammad Ayub Salangi told reporters at the scene.
Six others were wounded, including two who suffered critical injuries, he said.
The Taliban claimed responsibility, saying the attack was against a U.S.-based security contractor.
"It was one suicide attacker," said Sayed Bashir, a member of the Ministry of Interior's criminal investigation team.
"We found the two legs of the suicide bomber."
Attacks in the Afghan capital have fallen off in recent months and the explosion in the Wazir Akbar Khan district,
considered one of the safest in the city, alarmed diplomats and other members of the international community.
The heavily guarded district is home to many foreigners and wealthy Afghans - many who shop at the pricey store.
Ahmad Zaki, another member of the criminal investigation unit, said the suicide bomber threw at least one grenade
and fired shots, prompting customers to run to another area of the store.
"Then he blew himself up," Zaki said.
The explosion ignited a small fire in the frozen food section. Black, acrid smoke filled the main floor of the two-story store.
Mounds of canned goods, boxes of cereal and other merchandise were strewn across the floor, making it difficult for police
officers and rescuers to walk around. More than an hour after the 2:30 p.m. blast, a charred smell still permeated the store.
"I was inside the store," Mary Hayden, a Western consultant, said recounting the attack.
"To my left, I heard a gunshot. A bomb went off. Everyone was running to the back of the building."
Afghan President Hamid Karzai condemned the attack and said the "enemies of Afghanistan are so desperate that
they are now killing civilians, including women, inside a food market."
He said attacks against women "are not part of Afghan culture or Islam. This is an attack against Islam."
In a text message sent to reporters,
Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid wrote: "It was an attack on the chief of Blackwater."
Blackwater Worldwide, based in North Carolina, is now called Xe Services.
The store was full of foreign customers, according to Moujib, a 14-year-old Afghan boy who uses just one name.
"I was on the first floor and we heard a boom," he said,
crying and clinging to his mother. "I might have heard some shooting. Then I saw fire everywhere."
Another eyewitness, Mohammad Parwais, said he also heard gunfire.
"We were waiting for a car and we heard some shooting inside the supermarket and then the explosion," Parwais said.
More than 100 policemen responded to the scene where people were using hoses to clear glass
and blood stains from the pavement.
The bodies, some wrapped in posters that had been displayed inside the store, were taken away in ambulances
and the back of pickup trucks. One woman killed in the blast was partially covered in a towel,
but her mangled legs and black, high-heeled boots were visible.
Yama, an Afghan man who sells phone cards at a traffic circle just outside the store, said he heard gunfire
and hit the ground. He and other sellers then rushed inside to help injured and dazed customers from the store.
"They were looking around like they didn't know what had happened," he said. "Their eyes were wide open."