Afghan MP among 19 killed in suicide attack

KABUL A suicide bomber attacked a funeral in northeastern Afghanistan on Sunday, killing at least 19 people including an MP and wounding dozens of others, officials said.

The attacker, who was wearing a suicide vest, blew himself up among a crowd of mourners gathered for the funeral of a government official in Taluqan city, the capital of Takhar province, 155 miles (250 kilometres) north of Kabul.

We have 19 dead including an MP, Abdulmutalib Baig, and more than 40 wounded, mostly civilians, said Takhar provincial governor Abdul Jabar Taqwa.

I was also invited to this ceremony but I didnt go. The target was either me or the MP.

Baig was a former anti-Taliban Northern Alliance commander and the former police chief of Kunduz province. He was working with opposition leader Abdullah Abdullah in the newly established National Coalition of Afghanistan.

This ruthless act of terror to target innocent people who had gathered for a religious ceremony yet again demonstrates the vile and vicious nature of the enemy who do not want to see the Muslim people of Afghanistan to perform even their Islamic rituals, Afghan President Hamid Karzai said.

General John Allen, commander of the International Security Assistance Force, said the attackers must only be interested in destruction.

These attackers are cowards, callously targeting and killing families and friends who had gathered to mourn a loved one, he said.

Both the provincial police chief General Khair Mohammad Temor and the interior ministry confirmed the death toll. Temor said there were no women among the dead and more than 50 were wounded.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack and the Taliban, who are leading an insurgency against Afghan government forces and US-led international troops, were not reachable for comment.

Peace talks with the Taliban in the hope of finding a political settlement after 10 years of war have stalled in the wake of the September assassination of go! vernment peace envoy Burhanuddin Rabbani and continued violence.

Takhar province is one of the areas being handed over by NATO in the second wave of transition to Afghan security forces ahead of the planned withdrawal of foreign combat forces by the end of 2014.

Although the province is relatively calm, there have been a number of high-profile attacks in the last year, including the assassination of anti-Taliban northern Afghanistan police commander General Mohammad Daud Daud.

This reprehensible attack illustrates that the Taliban and other insurgents are waging a murderous campaign against innocent Afghan civilians, the US embassy said in a statement.

Elsewhere, in eastern Afghanistan, an ISAF service member died after an insurgent attack on Christmas day. The nationality was not disclosed in line with policy.

The death came after Afghan army and police officials said an Afghan soldier was killed in a gunfight with US troops in southwestern Farah province after he opened fire during an argument on Christmas eve.

Four US troops were also injured in the incident on Saturday after the Afghan soldier began shooting and coalition troops returned fire, the officials said.
A spokesman for the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force said there were no coalition fatalities but would not comment on ISAF casualties in line with policy.

Coalition troops often carry out joint operations with Afghan army and police. But violent incidents are not uncommon and Afghan security forces or those purporting to be have carried out several attacks on ISAF soldiers.

There are now 180,000 Afghan National Army soldiers but rapid growth has raised fears over the quality of recruits and even Taliban infiltration.

Meanwhile, the interior ministry said in the space of 24 hours Afghan security forces killed 30 armed insurgents in various operations around the country in which a number of weapons were found.