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Subscribe to RSSA wave of suicide bombings across the country has left dozens dead and more than 100 injured. NBC's Brian Williams reports.
Islamist suicide bombers targeted markets crowded with Ramadan shoppers and a major provincial hospital in Afghanistan on Tuesday, killing at least 38 people and wounding close to 100.
The bloodshed underscored a surge in fighting ahead of a withdrawal by most Western combat troops and handover to Afghan forces winding up in 2014. NATO-led forces have been struggling to eliminate Taliban insurgent bastions, especially in the east.
Suicide bombings in markets in the southwest province of Nimroz killed at least 28 people - 18 of them civilians and three policemen - and wounded over 70, police said, in the deadliest day of violence in the normally peaceful region since 2001.
An Afghan worker on a military base has allegedly killed three U.S. Marines in Helmand Province. NBC's Brian Williams reports.
Women and children and at least three members of the Afghan security forces were among the dead in Zaranj, the capital of the largely rural province, which lies on Afghanistan's western border with Iran.
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Another bomber blew himself up in front of Zaranj hospital, while two others detonated explosive vests in other areas of the city, killing mostly civilians, President Hamid Karzai's office said in a statement.
The toll in Zaranj was expected to rise, provincial governor Abdul Karim Barahawi said. "The attackers blew themselves up in crowded markets to target civilians. There was no government installation nearby," Barahawi said.
The Achin district governor in the northern Kunduz province told NBC News that at least 10 civilians were killed and 28 were wounded in a blast from a bomb affixed to a motorcycle.
Reuters reported the blast was at a bazaar.
All the outdoor markets attacked by the bombers had been packed with people buying food and supplies to end their daily Ramadan fast, local police said.
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An Afghan policeman killed 11 colleagues in Nimroz province on Saturday, firing on them at a checkpoint in Dilaram district, adding to a recent spate of such killings that have alarmed NATO commanders and left 34 foreign soldiers dead.
This article includes reporting by Reuters and NBC's Atia Abawi in Kabul.
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Leave a Comment:
they keep on blowing up innocent women and children then blame the west for it soon there will be no virgins for them to visit what ahell hole this place is
Right, nobody ever does anything resembling this in the West...
They sure like bombs, guess there's not much to do there but make bombs..I dont think it would be different if they had shopping malls.
I certainly don't like that our men and women have died in vein, but that is what is happening. May the powers that be and war mongerers burn for this. Either way we must leave the hell hole and take care of our own.
No more wars without the approval of Congress!!!
We can't get out of there quick enough, let the cockroaches return killing each other as they have for millenniums.
So tell me Zieglo, exactly how many people, from the West, have blown themselves up lately? No need to reply, I already know the answer. NONE.
Oh, except that one American terrorist guy. No wait; he got blown up by a missile. Never mind.
bdjd, that's right! You tell that to Obama, almost 4 years in to his Caliphate.
So I take it it was a good day at the office for them then. Sigh........
Don't bother discussing the Geneva Convention with them. Targeting hospitals. How low.
Notice once again that Karzai has no outrage for these killers. His outrage is reserved for NATO forces who accidentally kill a few people while protecting his sorry ass.
Ignorant muslim bastards, killing innocents for no reason at all, and especially in their 'holy month'. All the world should listen, learn, watch and understand that this hate filled culture of islam is the greatest curse this planet has ever seen. And we all should note, that those 'peaceful muslims' living in civilized countries who sit quietly by and do nothing to stop the killing. Remember that "silence is consent". Islam, the scourge of the world and never will our children, or grandchildren see peace until this hate filled culture is stamped out once and for all.
If you hire me I will outsource the war to poor countries and let them worry with this. We can sell weapons from our Military Industrial Complex to both sides then!
I am a bit confused...Why are they blowing up their own people? I can see why they would kill us, but why their own? Old scores? Honor killing when one of their daughters is raped? Why? Please enlighten me.
ooppss, I forgot the hornor killings are for killing their own victim daughters.
ok, unless dem te-achers dun taughts me wrong.... 18+3=28. wait a sec, im kidding, its 21 of course. so, the other 7 were?
mostly civilians? mostly what were the other people who were not civilians?
well, ok no goverment (US) installation... still doesnt tell us WHO other than civilians, and police were killed, and what the other than "mostly civlilians" were. they were people, and deserve respect.
Mission Accomplished !! Whatever the mission was - just get our troops the hell out. I'm not one to say "I told you so."
But you sonofabitch GWB - I TOLD YOU SO!!
Please, Afghanistan, follow our lead. Invade poor countries, spend tax dollars on these unwarranted wars, I'm sure you folks over there have your own 1%ers--like Karzai. But you folks have yet to figure out how to supersize things, ride, as opposed to walking. You don't "need" a new iPhone, or a 50"+ television to watch endless news cycles. Trust us--just as did Iraq and the people of Iran, when we overthrew a democratically elected government. These people didn't have suicide attackers before we arrived--not did Iraq.
This country of ours hypes patriotism, sells it the the American youth as an 'adventure' or a career. How many more letters with a sitting President sign to the American families that lost a loved one for war that is turning out the same way as Iraq.
Obama has said he doesn't need Congress.
We need to get completely out of there as soon as possible. Forget the agreements for on-going support. We are the inspiration for some of these attacks. The Afghanis and their neighbors are going to have to deal with this themselves.
We are a destablizing influence, not because of what we ourselves want or do, but because their zealots consider us evil for having to regard for their primative view of religion, and so they want to draw us into an intractable war to take us down the way they did the Soviets.
We need to not play the game. We need to just take our people, equipment and funds and go home. We can monitor from the air and destroy anything that looks like it might fly.
Forget foreign aid for them, they will fall into chaos both with and without it. All that money in Afghanistan does it create corruption.
The sooner we get out of this dump hole the better it will be.
The money & lives being wasted for these 11th century douche bags is unforgivable.
True,
Any short live accomplishments will all be wiped out the second we leave, just as the Russians.
Actually, it's more like the 7th century.
The uber religious Taliban (which means religious students) wish you a happy Ramadan.
Chapter 2, Revelation 185 of the Quran states:
Feel thankful now?
This is not what Islam is about and these are not Muslims (only in name) this is not Jihad
Keep telling yourself that, the rest of us know better
Yeah...sure it's not what it's about, buddy. Muslims do nothing to prove otherwise. You people should be policing your own, but instead things get worse.
Your "Muslim aren't really like this" spiel is old. Try and find some new suckers to believe that.
Rytone, your ignorance is baffling, yes, this is islam, and this is what muslims are all about, hate, killing of innocents, the culture of total scum...
Hey Rytone, in case you haven't paid attention, the Taliban are Muslims and you don't see any Muslim government or organization rushing in to tell them they have misunderstood their religion of Islam...Why is it that Muslim terrorists always misunderstand their religon and why do they always misunderstand it in exactly the same way everytime..?
The violence will never end.
Say Adios to this cesspool and God bless the poor bastards who are just trying to live a peaceful life.
Muslims alway live in fear of Islam..
Wonder if Karzai will huff & puff about this latest episode as much as he did when our solidier "allegedly" left his station and offed a few civilians a few months back.
Stop sending aid to Karzai which is only ending up in his pockets and in the pockets of his family & cronies.
Why does anybody ever think they can win a ground war in Afghanistan?
The soviets lost to the afghanis in the 80's.
The brits lost to the afghanis in the mid 1800's
Alexander the god damned great lost there in the 300's BC for crying out loud.
Nobody goes into Afghanistan and "wins", only loses less drastically. Time to leave, for our sake and for theirs.
Alexander didn't lose - he conquered it.
Brit's lost the First Afghan War, but they won the Second -and Afghanistan became their vassal until 1919...
Between them, Afghanistan was conquered many times.
Last but not least -nobody in the Westtries to conquer this country - the purpose is just to have there a regime which doesn't harbor terrorists who wage a Holy War against Western countries
Best regards
And we are still there because? Pull out, bring our troops home. Bring home or destroy on the ground anthing that US taxpayer dollars purchased. Leave these animals to live under the strict Shariah law they seem to favor. After all these years if these people refuse to stand up for themselves then let them die on their knees.
We are there to protect our interests in rare minerals to produce more ipads!
Just another day in Afghanistan. The are what they are.
It takes really brave men to blow up women and children.
Cat,
I take offense at your comment. The last time I blew myself up, I waited until all the women and children left.
It's really sad that they blow up their own women and children...
Suicide bombers in Afghanistan? Gee what a surprise.
These suicide bombers are al-qaeda recruits, not the everyday Afghani civilian. I would bet my last dollar the police/soldiers trying to kill their fellow officers are in reality al-qaeda infilltrators.
Let them kill each other all they want. Its time for us to get out of there. Besides the more they kill themselves the less bullets we have to spend.
Muslims....such a bunch of fools!!!
Just further proof that we have no business left in Afghanistan and if POMPUS Obama was an Honest President he would have pulled EVERYONE of our Troops out after he killed USAma bin Laden or Micky Mouse or whoever it was they claimed to have killed last!
Instead Bumbling Barry just wanted his Military Industrial Masters on Wall Street to be able to "Milk" out another couple of years worth of Our Blood & Treasure from all of US for their Fun & Profit!
Let US Face the Facts...Afghanistan is going to be a Blood Bath whether we left last year or ten years from now so why wait? We are not making it better only making it worse!
America.....
it is a Democratic Incumbent Vote Republican!
If it is a Republican Incumbent Vote Democratic!
Why keep Rewarding THEM for THEIR Lies to US with Re-Election?
The reason we are there is to keep an eye on Iran - and no other reason. Most of us are quite pissed that we are still there. I'm not sure Romney will be any better.
We will need to storm DC if either party starts talking about going to Syria.
We are already in Syria. Obama has stated we have special forces in country.
Is the Afghan army capable of defending the residents of this country? If there is a functional military, they should be directed to wipe-out all Taliban on a village by village basis. They know who is Taliban and who is not. If this cannot happen then their entire country is doomed to again become a slave to these primitive barbarians.
The Afghan army and government are partners with the Taliban....They just say they aren't in order to keep getting money from Uncle Sam..
Glass the sh!thole and call it a day!!!!!!!!
GET THE TROOPS OUT NOW!!!!
Anyone that would kill their own women and children senselessly is insane.
You can't reason with the insane.
How many thousand of US personnel killed and wounded?
How many billions US tax dollars wasted on this misadventure?
It took some intel and two Seal teams to kill bin Laden.
Bush and Cheney never cared -- they wanted the oil in Iraq.
They wanted more than the oil, their war-mongering buddies (owners) continue to make billions. Obama is no better in this regard.
If Obama was smart and wants to be re-elected, he should bring the troops home now. 10 years, billions of dollars, thousands of soldiers killed, and nothing to show for it....what a waste!
Actually about 1400 US soldiers killed
"these people have no love for life...they hate what most of us love...give their country back to them and let them live the life they wish for....."
The money spent and lives lost in Afghanistan ultimately have been wasted. Initially we went into Afghanistan after 9/11 to clean out Taliban havens that intelligence had indicated were breeding grounds for the terrorists that hijacked the airplanes. Since then, all we've done is given the anti-Western elements in Afghanistan and the surrounding areas a common enemy. How tragic this has all been.
I am so tired of hearing about the Taliban and al-Qaida, can't someone just wipe them out already? If it was my country, and there were groups of "religious" @$$holes that were regularly killing innocent civilians, I think that there would be groups of people banding together to hunt the bastards down. I mean it is not like they are just killing foreign soldiers occupying their lands, they are killing their own people's family, friends, and countrymen.
I know the foreign and Afghani militaries have tried to stamp them out, I guess they are just too numerous and too secretive to completely eradicate. Killing innocent civilians does not help your country, and is not going to convince anyone to stop prosecuting you. Somebody should try to join and infiltrate al-Qaida, then when they are having a big meeting or training camp suicide-bomb the F*CK out of them.
Wow , these people strap on some vest and blow themselves up, killing women and children and they have all of you people thinking ,they cant be defeated, they are already defeated ,all they can do now is ,blow themselves up and kill women and babies. Stay the course ,the war is almost over. When we leave, the Afghan government will be able to go into these villages and slaughter these fools , with out worrying about the United Nations getting mad at them ,for being cruel.
No, just like the 80's the corrupt government which has lined their pockets will leave and it will revert to a wasteland supplying the world with opium. I'm waiting for chicken hawk Romney to get us into Iran. He can get advice from gutless and rhymes with gutless. You know the two chicken hawks that started all this to begin with. Shoot, if we'd have just sent Cheney over there and liquored him up I bet he could have wounded at least one of the enemy for every five of our guys he shot. Get our people out, send in the drones a couple of times a week and gas the poppy fields.