Suicide attacks in Afghanistan result
in 25 deaths

KABUL (PL).—Two suicide attacks in the province of Qandahar on Monday, attributed to opponents of the U.S. occupation, resulted in 25 deaths, three of them of soldiers, and more than 30 wounded, in the main civilians.

The new attacks came in the wake of another on Sunday in the same region, which led to the death of a Canadian diplomat and two Afghan soldiers, and in which three Canadian soldiers were seriously wounded.

According to Asadula Jalid, governor of the province of Qandahar, a suicide attacker on a motorbike detonated an explosive charge this afternoon in a crowded market in the Spin Boldak locality, in the border area with Pakistan.

In that action 20 people died and an equal number were wounded, according to the source, which placed the blame on rebels belonging to the Taliban, whose government was crushed during the US invasion of 2001.

Earlier on, a communiqué from the Ministry of Defense stated that three Afghan soldiers and one civilian died and 15 were injured when a car bomb exploded in the same convulsive region of Qandahar, considered a Taliban stronghold.

On the other hand, Canadian public opinion awoke today Monday shocked at the reported death of the diplomat Glyn Berry, who had an important political position in Qandahar, and that of the Canadian troops.

Afghanistan has been under the occupation of some 20,000 soldiers headed by the United States and another 9,000 under the NATO command since December of 2001.

The recent series of suicide attacks, plus armed attacks on the occupying forces coincides with the announced U.S. intention to withdraw a number of its troops, to be replaced by NATO forces.