(3 Jun 2013)
AP TELEVISION
1. Wide of damaged car in front of Samkani district building
2. Mid of damaged car
3. Wide of street near the attack scene
4. Mid of wreckage in front of shop
5. Various of victims' shoes
6. Mid of a guard on street corner
7. Exterior of government office
8. Mid of signboard, reading (Pashto) "Samkani District Office"
9. SOUNDBITE (Pashto) Saleh Mohammad Ahsas, Samkani District Chief:
"Today at 10:30 we had a security briefing. After the security briefing the foreigners left to go to their bases. On their way back a bomber on a motorcycle attacked them."
10. Close of the attacker's burnt motorcycle
11. Mid of wounded boy in hospital
STORYLINE:
A suicide bomber targeting an American military delegation outside a government office in eastern Afghanistan killed 12 people on Monday, including nine schoolchildren who were walking nearby, and two international service members, officials said.
The attack in the Samkani district of Paktia province comes as the Taliban and other militants step up bombings and raids on police posts nationwide in a major test of the ability of Afghan soldiers and police to hold their ground without international military forces, who are withdrawing.
The US military delegation had just attended a security briefing at the district administrative office, said district chief Saleh Mohammad Ahsas, who was in the meeting.
He said the bomber appeared to have been waiting for the delegation and struck as the Americans left the compound, and that the blast killed people walking nearby, including the schoolchildren.
The US military coalition in Afghanistan confirmed that two of its service members died in the explosion.
It did not disclose their nationalities.
Officials gave conflicting initial reports on the Afghan death toll, but late on Monday all the bodies had accounted for - many burned beyond recognition - and the final count was one Afghan policeman and nine dead from the school, along with the two coalition troops.
One of the injured schoolchildren, who was accompanied by his parents in a local hospital, was heavily bandaged after being badly burnt.
The Afghan army and police are fighting the insurgency this year with little or no help from international forces that have been in Afghanistan since the 2001 US-led invasion to topple the Taliban for sheltering al-Qaida's leadership after the September 11 attacks on American soil.
As the 2014 withdrawal of most international forces looms, insurgents are intensifying their attacks, using a broad range of tactics from suicide bombings to improvised bombs that are often accidentally detonated by passing vehicles, killing civilians.
An assassination campaign against police chiefs and local government officials also has continued.
In recent weeks, hundreds of Taliban fighters have attempted to take over more territory with attacks on police posts in several parts of the country.
The Afghan Interior Ministry confirmed that the Taliban have launched multiple assaults, assisted by al-Qaida and the Pakistan-based Haqqani network, but insisted that Afghan forces were holding their ground.
Find out more about AP Archive: [ Ссылка ]
Twitter: [ Ссылка ]
Facebook: [ Ссылка ]
Instagram: [ Ссылка ]
You can license this story through AP Archive: [ Ссылка ]
