Afghan Armed opposition attack Herath (Tolo News)

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YouTube - ‪TOLOnews com 30 05 2011 HERAT ATTACK‬‏

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Insurgents attack Afghan NATO base, downtown Herat blast kills at least 4

By Joshua Partlow and Javed Hamdard, Monday, May 30, 5:23 AM

KABUL — The Taliban exploded a car outside the gate of a NATO base in the western Afghan city of Herat on Monday, setting off a gun battle as a bomber blew up amid a downtown crowd, Afghan officials said.
The car bomb targeted the Italian military-led Provincial Reconstruction Team office, which coordinates the coalition’s support for development and governance in the province. The Italian defense minister said five Italian soldiers were wounded, including one critically, according to the Associated Press.
The other blast occurred around the same time in an area of Herat called Cinema Circle, killing at least four Afghan civilians and wounding 37 others, according to Mohammad Rahim Panjshiri, head of the Afghan intelligence agency in the province. AP reported that a suicide bomber blew up a car at a bus stop in the area.
As the car bomb went off at the Italian base, four insurgents in explosive vests entered a building nearby and and began firing from the windows down into the base, Panjshiri said. By afternoon, Afghan and coalition troops had secured the are, he said. The provincial governor said four of the five attackers were killed and one was arrested.
The Taliban claimed responsibility for the violence. An insurgent spokesman, Qari Mohammad Yousef, said that up to four fighters with grenades, guns and explosives took part.
The assault on the NATO compound was the first major attack in downtown Herat since the Taliban went after the United Nations office in the city in October. Guards fought off that assault, and there were no U.N. casualties.
Near the border with Iran and Turkmenistan, Herat is among the few secure parts of Afghanistan, and attacks, particularly in the city, are rare. Herat is identified as one of the first areas to be transferred to Afghan security force control starting in July when U.S. troops begin to withdraw.
Also on Monday, a man wearing an Afghan National Army uniform in southern Afghanistan opened fire on a NATO service member and killed him. Another NATO soldier died during a helicopter “hard landing” in the south.
Special correspondent Sayed Salahuddin in Kabul contributed to this report.

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4 NATO service members killed in Afghanistan | abc7.com

4 NATO service members killed in Afghanistan

Monday, May 30, 2011


Soldiers with the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) run to rescue a colleague stuck under debris after a suicide attack in Herat, west of Kabul, Afghanistan, Monday, May 30, 2011. A suicide attacker blew up an explosives-packed car Monday at the gates of an Italian military base in western Afghanistan, killing several people, officials said.



KABUL, Afghanistan (KABC) -- Four NATO service members died in Afghanistan Monday: two in a bomb attack in the east, one when a helicopter made a hard landing in the south and one when an Afghan soldier turned his gun on his NATO colleague.
The turncoat attack happened at an Afghan army base in southern Uruzgan province and the shooter escaped, said Abdul Hamid Wardak, the Afghan army commander for southern Afghanistan.
NATO confirmed that one of its service members was killed by a man in an Afghan army uniform but did not provide further details. Both NATO and the Afghan government said they are investigating.
Tension has been high between the two forces in recent days. On Saturday, a NATO airstrike inadvertently killed women and children. The international coalition has reduced the number of civilians killed in operations, but Afghan officials say any civilian deaths are unacceptable.



In other violence around Afghanistan, a suicide bomber blew up an explosives-packed car at the gates of an Italian military base Monday in one of two attacks on the relatively secure western city of Herat, killing at least five Afghans in a major commercial center slated to be handed over by NATO to Afghan control in July.
The bombings claimed by the Taliban were the second major attack in three days as insurgents expand their targets outside the southern and eastern theaters that were the focus of American offensives last winter.
The Associated Press contributed to this story
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