KANDAHAR, Afghanistan – Four Taliban suicide bombers disguised in army uniforms detonated a car bomb and stormed a government office Wednesday, killing 13 people. The assault highlighted the increasingly deadly tactics that Taliban militants are learning from al-Qaida, an expert said.
The multi-pronged raid mirrored an attack in Kabul in February when militants assaulted three government buildings simultaneously, killing 20.
Wednesday's attack on Kandahar's provincial council office killed seven civilians and six police officers, President Hamid Karzai's office said. Ahmad Wali Karzai, the head of the council and President Karzai's brother, said the attack came during a meeting of tribal leaders. He said 17 people were wounded.
The attack began just before noon, when a suicide bomber in a vehicle full of explosives blew himself up at the office gates, opening the way for three other attackers in Afghan army uniforms and AK-47s to storm the building, Ahmad Wali Karzai said. He told The Associated Press he was the target of the attack; he did not say how he knew he was the target.
The Kandahar assault comes amid a burst of violence in Afghanistan, where some 60 militants have died in battles the last three days. President Barack Obama — who is deploying an additional 21,000 U.S. forces to bolster the record 38,000 already in the country — has said the U.S. will increase its focus on the "increasingly perilous" situation here.
After the car bomb explosion, three militants wearing suicide vests and carrying assault rifles entered the Kandahar compound, said Interior Ministry spokesman Zemeri Bashary. Police killed two of the attackers and the third one blew himself up, he said. A fourth bomber died in the car bomb, bringing the overall death toll to at least 17.
Among those killed were the province's education director and its deputy health director, Ahmad Wali Karzai said. The president's brother said he left the council office about five minutes before the attack and was not harmed.
Qari Yousef Ahmadi, a Taliban spokesman, claimed responsibility for the assault and said the target was the provincial compound.
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