Suicide bomb attack

AGENCE FRANCE PRESSE

KANDAHAR: Two civilians died and 11 others were injured in a Taliban suicide car bomb attack targeting a district governor in southern Afghanistan on Saturday, local officials said. The attack targeted the governor of Dand district, Ahmadullah Nazak, but he escaped unhurt, officials said. “At around 2:00pm, a suicide bomber detonated his vehicle packed with explosives near the convoy of Dand district chief Ahmadullah Nazak,” provincial spokesman Zalmai Ayoobi said. “The governor was not hurt in the blast, but two civilians were killed.” Officials later added that 11 more people were hurt and one of those killed was a teenager. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack.

Pak praises India

NEW DELHI: A Pakistan High Commission official praised India for acting “responsibly and maturely” following the Mumbai terror attacks which killed 166 people, according to US official cables released by WikiLeaks. The official, whose name was deleted in the confidential cable, made the comments when contrasting New Delhi’s reaction to the Mumbai attacks to its response after the bombing of India’s embassy in Kabul in July 2008. The cable, dated December 1, 2008 and signed by then US envoy David C. Mulford, spoke of strong demands in the Indian media for retaliatory action against terror camps in Pakistan after Mumbai. More than 40 people, including India’s military attache and a diplomat, were killed in the July 2008 attack on the embassy in Kabul, while 166 people died in the Mumbai attacks by Islamist gunmen in November 2008.

Nine dead in accident

BEIJING: Nine people were killed and nine others injured when a truck loaded with fireworks material hit an electricity pole and blew up in central China on Saturday. The deaths brought the number of fireworks-related deaths nationwide in the past week to at least 19. The explosion took place late Friday in Changsha, the capital of Hunan province, when the truck loaded with 600 boxes of fireworks fuses hit the pole. Sparks from the fallen power cables ignited the fuses and caused the blast. The force of the explosion shattered windows and cracked walls in houses hundreds of metres away from the scene, the report said. Search and rescue teams were using sniffer dogs to look for more possible victims.

B’desh engineer killed

MAZAR-I-SHARIF: A Bangladeshi engineer working in northern Afghanistan has been killed and two road workers are being held hostage after a kidnapping incident, local police on Saturday. “Seven Afghan and Bangladeshi road construction workers were kidnapped last night,” said Shirjan Duranai, spokesman for the police in Balkh province. “One Bangladeshi was killed, four workers escaped, while two are still hostages.”The nationality of those  being held hostage is not clear, said the spokesperson.