Afghan Policemen Killed, Injured in Suicide Attack

Afghan policemen keep watch in Mazar-i-sharif, Oct. 12, 2014. AFP file photo
Afghan policemen keep watch in Mazar-i-sharif, Oct. 12, 2014. AFP file photo
TT
20

Afghan Policemen Killed, Injured in Suicide Attack

Afghan policemen keep watch in Mazar-i-sharif, Oct. 12, 2014. AFP file photo
Afghan policemen keep watch in Mazar-i-sharif, Oct. 12, 2014. AFP file photo

At least a dozen Afghan security forces were killed when a suicide attacker blew himself up in the southern province of Kandahar, police said Thursday.

"Twelve security forces were killed and four others were wounded" in the attack in which an explosives-packed Humvee was used, Kandahar police spokesman Zia Durrani told Agence France Presse.

The Taliban claimed the deadly assault on the government and police headquarters in Maroof district that also wounded several others.

Durrani said the Taliban attackers had been "defeated.”

A border police commander in Maroof, which borders Pakistan, gave a slightly higher toll, telling AFP that 14 security personnel had been killed and eight wounded in the attack that happened late Wednesday. 

"The intensity of the blast caused damage to the building and led to casualties," he said.

"The clean-up operation is under way in the area."

The attack is the latest deadly assault by the Taliban, which has been on the offensive since US-led NATO combat troops withdrew in 2014 and now controls swathes of territory across the country. 

During a high-profile visit by US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg to the Afghan capital Kabul on Wednesday, insurgents launched a volley of rockets near the city's international airport.

A US airstrike launched in support of Afghan security forces who had confronted the attackers caused "several casualties" when a missile malfunctioned. 

One person was killed and 11 others wounded in the assault that lasted several hours, according to the interior ministry.



Khamenei: Iran is Ready to Respond to Any Renewed Military Attack

A handout picture made available by the Iranian supreme leader office shows, Iranian supreme leader Ali Khameni speaking during a meeting with members of Iranian judiciary in Tehran, Iran, 16 July 2025. EPA/IRANIAN SUPREME LEADER OFFICE
A handout picture made available by the Iranian supreme leader office shows, Iranian supreme leader Ali Khameni speaking during a meeting with members of Iranian judiciary in Tehran, Iran, 16 July 2025. EPA/IRANIAN SUPREME LEADER OFFICE
TT
20

Khamenei: Iran is Ready to Respond to Any Renewed Military Attack

A handout picture made available by the Iranian supreme leader office shows, Iranian supreme leader Ali Khameni speaking during a meeting with members of Iranian judiciary in Tehran, Iran, 16 July 2025. EPA/IRANIAN SUPREME LEADER OFFICE
A handout picture made available by the Iranian supreme leader office shows, Iranian supreme leader Ali Khameni speaking during a meeting with members of Iranian judiciary in Tehran, Iran, 16 July 2025. EPA/IRANIAN SUPREME LEADER OFFICE

Iran is ready to respond to any renewed military attack, the country's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei said in comments carried by state TV on Wednesday, adding Tehran was capable of giving a bigger blow to adversaries than the one delivered during the 12-day Iran-Israel war last month.

He also accused the US of being an accomplice to Israel’s crimes, describing Israel a “cancerous tumor”.

He added: “Fighting the US and its ‘dog on leash’ Israel is praiseworthy”.