AFP
A suicide attack at a funeral in northern Afghanistan killed at least nine people yesterday, officials said, underlining nationwide insecurity as Nato troops end their 13-year war this month.
The blast followed a series of attacks in the capital Kabul which have heightened concern that Afghanistan could tip into a spiral of violence as the US-led military presence declines.
The Nato force in Afghanistan will change on December 31 from a combat mission to a support role, with troop numbers cut to about 12,500 - down from a peak of 130,000 in 2010.
“A suicide bomber on foot detonated his explosives among people who were attending a funeral ceremony in Burka district this morning,” Aminullah Amarkhil, police chief of Baghlan province, said.
“Initial reports show nine people, including two police, were killed and around 18 wounded.”
Amarkhil said the funeral was for a tribal elder in Baghlan, a province on the main road from Kabul to Mazar-e-Sharif that has suffered worsening security in recent years.
Taj Mohamed Taqwa, the district chief of Burka, confirmed the death toll to AFP.
“The target was probably a number of high-ranking police officials and provincial council members who were attending the ceremony,” he said. “They are unharmed.”
There was no immediate claim of responsibility.
President Ashraf Ghani, who came to power in September, has vowed to bring peace to Afghanistan after decades of conflict, saying he is open to talks with any insurgent group.
A Taliban attack on Saturday in Kabul killed a South African father running an education charity and his two teenage children.
Meanwhile, officials said yesterday the Kabul police chief who tendered his resignation after a string of attacks in the city will stay on in the role.
Zahir Zahir had been under pressure due to attacks in the capital targeting foreign guest houses, embassy vehicles.
Kabul has been hit by at least nine attacks in the last two weeks, including a South African father and his two teenage children were killed by the Taliban at their home on Saturday.
“Based on the request of high-ranking officials and in order to avoid disruption of security affairs, General Zahir was asked to continue his duties,” Kabul police spokesman Hashmat Stanakzai said.
“His resignation was rejected and he continues his duties as the police chief of Kabul.”
On Sunday Stanakzai said that Interior Minister Omar Daudzai had accepted Zahir’s resignation, but the decision was reversed by yesterday morning.
President Ashraf Ghani reacted to the spate of attacks by describing the Taliban as “a small minority who want to hijack the nation”.
“We won’t allow that,” he vowed.
Insurgents have targeted foreign guest houses, embassy vehicles, US troops, Afghan army buses and a female member of parliament in recent weeks.
In a related development, Afghan soldiers scoured a former Nato military base in the south of the country yesterday, searching for any remaining insurgents after four days of fighting inside the perimeter fence.
The Taliban launched a multiple suicide and gunfire attack on Thursday evening on Camp Bastion, now known as Shorabak, a major airfield that was handed over to Afghan control from foreign forces only a month ago.
Some attackers got into empty barracks inside the camp, and Afghan forces feared a rogue militant could still be holed up in a basement, said Omar Zwak, the governor’s spokesman for Helmand province.
Zwak said five soldiers and at least 26 insurgents had died in the fighting.
“Clearance operations are being completed,” he said.
A statement from the defence ministry on Sunday said: “A group of enemies attacked a part of Camp Bastion.
“At first six suicide bombers detonated and then the enemy using small and heavy weapons attacked the base.”
Separately, 12 Afghan soldiers were killed in the same province on Saturday, Zwak said.
In that attack, insurgents attacked a small outpost in Sangin district, one of the most fiercely contested areas of Afghanistan over recent years and the scene of many US and British casualties.