South Asia News

31 people killed in Afghan suicide attack (Roundup)

Feb 21, 2011, 11:21 GMT

Kunduz, Afghanistan - A suicide bomber in the northern province of Kunduz killed 31 people and injured 40 inside a government building, officials said Monday.

The attacker detonated his explosives in the local statistics office at Imam Sahib district headquarters, killing 31 people, said Mohammad Ayub Haqyar, district governor of Imam Sahib.

The attack took place as people were lined up to collect their identity cards, Haqyar said.

'The target of the bomber was me,' he said.

The governor said they held a meeting with local officials and commanders of local pro-government militia to discuss the security situation in the district.

Norul Haq, a doctor at the Imam Sahib district hospital, confirmed that 31 civilians including three children were killed and 40 injured.

The condition of some of the injured was critical, he said.

The blast area was covered in blood and body parts, a reporter for the German Press Agency dpa at the site said.

'I heard a big explosion when I came to the statistics office. I saw my cousin killed in the blast,' said Abdul Hafiz, a witness. 'My cousin had come to get his identification card,' the 26-year-old said.

'A lot of people were dead everywhere and I saw many injured in the blast,' Hafiz said.

The incident was third suicide attack in three days. On Sunday, a suicide bombing targeting a branch of Kabul Bank in the city of Jalalabad killed at least 42 people, most of them Afghan security personnel.

Afghanistan has seen a sudden surge in violent attacks with high civilian casualties in recent weeks.

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