12 policemen and one child die in suicide blast at Afghan police HQ

Twelve policemen and a child were killed yesterday when a suicide car bomber struck outside police headquarters in the southern Afghan city of Lashkar Gah, officials said.

The attack came days after control of security in the city, the capital of Helmand province passed from British to Afghan forces as part of a process that will see all foreign combat troops leave Afghanistan by the end of 2014.

Some experts question the ability of Afghan soldiers and police to protect their country against attacks from the Taliban, who claimed responsibility for the latest blast, and other insurgents.

In a separate incident in western Afghanistan yesterday, three foreign troops died “as a result of a non-battle related injury,” the Nato-led International Security Assistance Force (Isaf) said, without giving further details.

Another member of the foreign forces died after an insurgent attack in southern Afghanistan, Isaf added, again without providing details or nationality.

Following the blast in Lashkar Gah, the interior ministry confirmed the death toll and vowed the attack would not prevent the police from battling the Taliban, leaders of a 10-year insurgency raging across the country. “Twelve Afghan National Police members and a child were martyred and 12 other Afghan National Police members were wounded (along with) two civilians,” it said in a statement.

“The Ministry of Interior strongly condemns the insurgents (behind) this un-Islamic and inhumane action and such attacks will never weaken the determination of Afghan National Police.”

The blast happened at around 8.30 a.m. in front of the heavily-secured police headquarters as Afghan police left to go on a patrol, a statement from the governor’s office added.

In a statement on their website, the Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack in Helmand, one of the most dangerous provinces in Afghanistan and a key focus of the war for international troops.

“A large number of policemen were gathered and a hero of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan struck and exploded his vehicle laden with explosives,” the statement said.

The attack comes amid ongoing concerns over the ability of the Afghan security forces, which are receiving huge sums of money from the international community in a bid to build them up.