U.S. military: Suicide cell in Kabul.

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U.S. military: Suicide cell in Kabul


A suicide bombing cell is operating in the Afghan capital with the aim of targeting foreign troops, the U.S. military said Sunday.
The statement came two days after a suicide car bomber rammed into a U.S. military convoy near the U.S. Embassy in Kabul, killing 16 people, including two American soldiers. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the bombing, which was the deadliest suicide attack in the capital since the fall of the hard-line Taliban in late 2001.
Col. Tom Collins, the chief U.S. spokesman, said the coalition was aware that a bomber was in the city before the bombing, but lacked a description of the attacker or the vehicle he was using.
"The coalition had intelligence that a suicide bomber was lurking in Kabul. What we didn't have was a description of the attacker or license plate for his vehicle, but somehow I believe somewhere out there someone knew this guy and had information that could have saved a lot of lives that day had they reported it," he said.
Collins said he couldn't give further details about the suicide bombing cell, but said it was still working and "remains very much a threat."
"Through our intelligence sources we know there's a cell here in Kabul, at least one, whose primary mission is to seek coalition or international troops and hit them with suicide bombs," he said at a news conference.
Taliban-led militants have stepped up attacks in Afghanistan this year, including suicide bombings. More than 100 Taliban fighters raided a government compound in western Afghanistan early Sunday, while NATO and Afghan forces killed 94 Taliban fighters in airstrikes and ground attacks in southern Afghanistan, police and military alliance sources said.
Taliban fighters riding in pickup trucks and firing rocket-propelled grenades and AK-47 assault rifles attacked the compound in the Farah provincial town of Kalaigar at about 1 a.m., said provincial police chief Sayed Agha. Two police were killed by the Taliban, who also burned two rooms of the compound and a health clinic in the town, said Agha.
Resurgent Taliban fighters have been most active in southern provinces. But attacks have started occurring in the west amid intense NATO military operations targeting Taliban in southern provinces like Kandahar and Helmand.
94 militants were killed in Kandahar province's Panjwayi and neighboring Zhari districts late Saturday and early Sunday and were separate to more than 40 Taliban who died in fighting in the same areas earlier Saturday, NATO spokesman Maj. Scott Lundy said.
The killings were part of a NATO-led Operation called Operation Medusa, which began Sept. 2 and has killed at least 420 insurgents, according to the alliance. Purported Taliban spokesmen have disputed the high death counts.
On Friday, a bomber in a car rammed into a U.S. military convoy near the U.S. Embassy, killing 16 people in the deadliest suicide attack since the fall of the hardline Islamic regime in late 2001.
A purported Taliban spokesman claimed responsibility for Friday's attack. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the assassination of the Paktika governor.
The attacker, with explosives attached to his body, ran towards the governor's car and detonated the bomb as he was leaving the house, Raufi said.
Also killed were a bodyguard and Taniwal's secretary, who were riding in the car, said Interior Ministry spokesman Yousef Stanezai.
Three police on duty at the house were wounded, he said.







The Associated Press.