12 killed in Afghan suicide bomber attack

PanARMENIAN.Net - A suicide bomber has killed 12 people after blowing himself up in a police dining hall in central Afghanistan at lunchtime, authorities have revealed, accoridng to Belfast Telegraph.

Uruzgan provincial government spokesman Abdullah Himmat said inquiries are ongoing into how the suicide bomber passed three checkpoints before sneaking into the crowded hall.

He said the bomber detonated a suicide vest just inside the door to the facility. The dining hall is on a base used by police assigned to secure the main highway to neighbouring Kandahar.

Afghan media reported 10 of the 12 victims were Afghan national police officers. Himmat however would only say that the dead were "primarily police". Five other people were wounded in the explosion.

The attack came after another suicide bomber blew himself up at an Afghan border checkpoint, killing at least two people and wounding eight others.

Kandahar provincial government spokesman Javeed Faisal said the attacker detonated his explosives at the gates of the Spin Boldak crossing from Pakistan into Afghanistan, which is used by thousands of people every day.

In addition to the suicide bomber, he said the blast killed one border police officer and wounded another, and killed one civilian and wounded seven others.