KABUL, 29 December 2003 — A suicide bomber killed four intelligence agents, their driver and himself in the Afghan capital yesterday by detonating explosives concealed under his clothing moments after his arrest, police said.
The intelligence agents had just arrested the man near the capital’s airport when the explosion ripped through the sports utility vehicle in which they were taking him away, said Kabul police chief Baba Jan.
Jan said the suspect was a foreigner and that Afghan security forces had been pursuing him for some time. He refused to identify him further, and other officials said identification was difficult because the bodies were so mutilated.
“They had just arrested him with explosives,” Jan told reporters near the scene. “This guy had more explosives on his body, and when they took him inside the car, he blew himself up.”
Abdul Jamil, the head of Kabul police’s criminal investigation department, said the agents had seized the suspect with a bomb packed into a pressure cooker. Another suspect got away, he said.
Officials declined to speculate on whether the men were planning an attack.
A Taleban spokesman claimed responsibility for the attack and warned that another 60 suicide bombers planning to attack foreigners had entered the capital. The spokesman said the bombers would attack peacekeeping troops, coalition forces and people working for the United Nations and non-governmental organizations (NGOs).
The blast is the latest in a series of violent incidents since the start of a historic constitutional convention in the capital two weeks ago.
At least five rockets have been fired into the city, damaging at least two houses, but causing no injuries. Two days ago, a bomb demolished a wall outside a house used by UN employees in Kabul. No one was hurt.
