KANDAHAR, 10 October 2005 — Four British nationals were wounded when a suicide bomber rammed his explosives-packed car into their vehicle in southern Afghanistan yesterday, British and Afghan officials said.
It was the third suicide attack in insurgency-hit Afghanistan in less than two weeks. The wounded Britons were security guards accompanying a British Embassy team visiting the southern city of Kandahar, embassy spokesman Keith Scott said.
“A two-vehicle British Embassy convoy was hit in the attack. Four members of a private British security team were wounded. None of the injuries are life-threatening,” Scott told AFP. He said it was unclear if the attack was random or targeted at the British convoy. He did not give details about the purpose of the British visit.
Provincial governor Asadullah Khalid said earlier the Britons were customs officials. He blamed the attack on insurgents loyal to the Taleban regime that was ousted in a US-led campaign in late 2001.
“It was the work of the enemies of Afghanistan — it was a suicide attack,” Khalid said. Interior Ministry spokesman Yousuf Stanizai said the attack was a suicide blast but declined to give details, saying an investigation was under way. The mangled head and limbs of the suicide bomber could be seen at the scene.
