(13 Feb 2011)
1. Afghan National Army soldiers searching residents in Kandahar city
2. Afghan soldier
3. American soldier next to armoured vehicle
4. Interior corridor of Mirwais Hospital
5. Various of wounded victims in hospital ward
6. Various of injured distressed little boy in hospital bed being comforted by another boy
7. Pan left around ward, injured, visitors
8. SOUNDBITE: (Pashto) vox pop, Nisar Ahmad, Kandahar businessman:
"We were sitting there and helicopters came and fired on the place where the firing was coming from. When the helicopters turned back, we heard a blast and we didn't know what had happened to us. Ten children from our family were injured."
9. Wide of exterior Mirwais Hospital
10. Various shots of the building where attackers were hiding
11. Wide shot main road through Kandahar city
12. SOUNDBITE: (Pashto) vox pop, Mohammad Younis, Kandahar shopkeeper:
"The noise of the blasts started and we were afraid and closed our shops and went home. I don't have any other information about injured or dead people. This was the worst incident yet and will have a bad effect on Kandahar city's business, on the shopkeepers and on all those who work, because all the shops have been closed since yesterday, the whole city is closed, including commuting routes. We ask the government to take quick action and solve this problem."
13. Various shots of closed shops
STORYLINE
Security was tight and shops were still closed on Sunday in the city of Kandahar in Afghanistan's south, the day after a deadly attack on the police headquarters there left at least 18 dead and many injured.
Traumatised residents recounted their experiences of the day before, and injured victims still lay in the local Mirwais Hospital.
Taliban insurgents armed with bombs, automatic rifles and rocket-propelled grenades attacked the Kandahar police headquarters on Saturday, in a bloody assault that killed at least 18 people.
The interior ministry said 49 people were also wounded - 25 police officers, 23 civilians and one intelligence agent.
The afternoon raid showed that insurgents were still able to launch deadly strikes on heavily fortified government institutions, despite the past year's influx of US troops into Kandahar province, the Taliban's birthplace.
The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack.
Fifteen of those killed were Afghan police officers, said the provincial governor.
An Interior Ministry spokesman said three Afghan soldiers, two civilians and one intelligence service agent also died in the assault.
Insurgents first struck around noon, detonating a series of explosions that rocked the area near the provincial police headquarters.
The police post is located in central Kandahar, not far from the governor's offices.
Initial reports suggest a car bomb exploded outside the police compound, and then immediately afterwards two suicide bombers tried to storm the headquarters but blew themselves up outside the perimeter wall, according to NATO officials in Kandahar.
Five militants fitted with suicide vests battled with police for several hours, said the interior ministry spokesman.
Some occupied a multi-storey building housing a wedding hall across the street from the headquarters.
From there, they fired on the police headquarters compound with automatic rifles and rocket-propelled grenades.
Residents quickly shuttered shops and took cover inside as the fighting raged, and NATO vehicles could be seen inside the city.
Several loud explosions again rattled buildings more than an hour after the first blast struck.

Find out more about AP Archive: [ Ссылка ]
Twitter: [ Ссылка ]
Facebook: [ Ссылка ] ​​
Instagram: [ Ссылка ]


You can license this story through AP Archive: [ Ссылка ]

свернуть