Afghan official: 12 killed by suicide attacker

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) ? An Afghan official says 12 people have been killed by a suicide bomber on a motorcycle in southern Afghanistan.

Daud Ahmadi, a provincial spokesman, says at least 23 others were wounded in the Wednesday afternoon blast in Kajaki district of Helmand province.

Mohammad Ismail, the deputy of the Afghan security forces coordination office in the area, says the suicide bomber blew himself at a bridge that was under construction.

Also on Wednesday, an Afghan intelligence official in Nad Ali district of Helmand province and two of his body guards were killed in an explosion.

Ahmadi says a remote-controlled bomb was detonated as the intelligence official, Wali Mohammad Khan, walked out of his house.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) ? A senior Afghan official said Wednesday that NATO forces killed five civilians, including one woman and two children, during a night raid earlier this week in northeastern Afghanistan.

A NATO statement said the alliance was aware of a military operation in Chawkay district of Kunar province on Monday and was checking into the report.

Sayed Fazelullah Wahidi, governor of Kunar province, which includes the district, said the raid occurred Monday night. He said coalition helicopters fired into a compound, killing two militants and five civilians, including a woman and two children.

Coalition troops and Afghan special forces have been carrying out regular nighttime kill-and-capture raids against suspected insurgents across Afghanistan.

But the operations and allegations of civilian deaths have provoked anger over foreign meddling in Afghanistan and whether detention operations will be run by the Afghans or Americans.

President Hamid Karzai has demanded that foreign troops stop entering homes, saying Afghan citizens cannot feel secure if they think armed soldiers might burst into their houses in the middle of the night.

In November, Karzai convened a traditional national assembly known as a Loya Jirga that stopped short of demanding a complete end to night raids. Instead, it asked that they be led and controlled by Afghan security forces.

Meanwhile, Afghan security forces said they had killed nine armed insurgents and captured 23 suspects in a series of raids in the past 24 hours.

An Interior Ministry statement issued Wednesday morning said the operations in eight different provinces also uncovered caches of weapons, ammunition and explosives.

The Afghan Defense Ministry says a soldier was killed and four were wounded in clashes with insurgents on Tuesday.

Fighting across the country appears to have decreased in recent weeks, after heavy snows blanketed much of the mountainous terrain in which the Taliban usually operate.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2012-01-18-AS-Afghanistan/id-ead0339db99a44eb8adc9327e609e380

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