Afghan blast kills five in U.N. vehicle
(Updates with U.N. comment, govt comment on French aid workers)
By Ismail Sameem
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan, April 17 (Reuters) - A remote-controlled bomb blew up a U.N. vehicle in Afghanistan on Tuesday killing four Nepalese contractors and an Afghan driver, police and the United Nations said.
The Taliban claimed responsibility for the blast in the southern city of Kandahar, the latest attack in their stepped-up campaign against foreign troops and anyone seen supporting them.
"The bomb was planted by the enemies of Afghanistan, and four Nepalese and one Afghan have been killed," provincial police chief Esmatullah Alizai told Reuters near the attack scene.
The blast, which completely destroyed the vehicle, happened on a main road on the outskirts of Kandahar, where Taliban attacks have become increasingly common.
The United Nations said a remote-controlled bomb was set off as a U.N. convoy passed.
The four Nepalese were contractors working with the U.N. Office for Project Services. It was not clear if the Afghan driver was a contractor or had been working for the United Nations, a U.N. spokesman said.
"Intentional attacks on civilians are a clear violation of international humanitarian law and the U.N. will be pursuing full accountability for those who are behind this," the United Nations said in a statement.
The New York-based Human Rights Watch said on Monday the Taliban were increasingly targeting civilians, and had killed nearly 700 last year.
TALIBAN THREAT
A Taliban commander, Mullah Hayatullah Khan, claimed responsibility for the latest attack, saying people helping foreign forces were targets.
"We'll target all individuals or organisations that are either cooperating with coalition forces or working under their supervision," Khan said by satellite telephone from a undisclosed location.
Kandahar, where the Taliban emerged in the early 1990s, is the hub for relief and reconstruction efforts and for foreign forces in the Afghan south.
Violence in Afghanistan surged last year to its worst level since the Taliban were ousted 2001. In all, about 4,000 people were killed.
Fighting eased over the winter, as it traditionally does in Afghanistan, but attacks have been picking up over recent weeks. The Taliban have killed dozens of aid workers since 2001 but Tuesday's attack was the worst on people working for the United Nations in Afghanistan since then.
An Afghan working for the U.N. Children's Fund was killed along with a driver and another aid worker in an ambush in the west of the country in May 2006.
A spokesman for President Hamid Karzai said efforts were under way to secure the safe release of two French aid workers, abducted by the Taliban along with three Afghans in the southwestern province of Nimroz on April 5. He did not elaborate.
In a separate incident, a blast in a school compound killed four students in the western city of Herat, officials and witnesses said.
Police in Herat, which is relatively peaceful compared with the insurgency-plagued south and east, blamed the Taliban.
On Monday, a suicide bomber killed nine police in the northeastern town of Kunduz. The Taliban claimed responsibility. (Additional reporting by Saeed Ali Achakzai)
By Ismail Sameem
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan, April 17 (Reuters) - A remote-controlled bomb blew up a U.N. vehicle in Afghanistan on Tuesday killing four Nepalese contractors and an Afghan driver, police and the United Nations said.
The Taliban claimed responsibility for the blast in the southern city of Kandahar, the latest attack in their stepped-up campaign against foreign troops and anyone seen supporting them.
"The bomb was planted by the enemies of Afghanistan, and four Nepalese and one Afghan have been killed," provincial police chief Esmatullah Alizai told Reuters near the attack scene.
The blast, which completely destroyed the vehicle, happened on a main road on the outskirts of Kandahar, where Taliban attacks have become increasingly common.
The United Nations said a remote-controlled bomb was set off as a U.N. convoy passed.
The four Nepalese were contractors working with the U.N. Office for Project Services. It was not clear if the Afghan driver was a contractor or had been working for the United Nations, a U.N. spokesman said.
"Intentional attacks on civilians are a clear violation of international humanitarian law and the U.N. will be pursuing full accountability for those who are behind this," the United Nations said in a statement.
The New York-based Human Rights Watch said on Monday the Taliban were increasingly targeting civilians, and had killed nearly 700 last year.
TALIBAN THREAT
A Taliban commander, Mullah Hayatullah Khan, claimed responsibility for the latest attack, saying people helping foreign forces were targets.
"We'll target all individuals or organisations that are either cooperating with coalition forces or working under their supervision," Khan said by satellite telephone from a undisclosed location.
Kandahar, where the Taliban emerged in the early 1990s, is the hub for relief and reconstruction efforts and for foreign forces in the Afghan south.
Violence in Afghanistan surged last year to its worst level since the Taliban were ousted 2001. In all, about 4,000 people were killed.
Fighting eased over the winter, as it traditionally does in Afghanistan, but attacks have been picking up over recent weeks. The Taliban have killed dozens of aid workers since 2001 but Tuesday's attack was the worst on people working for the United Nations in Afghanistan since then.
An Afghan working for the U.N. Children's Fund was killed along with a driver and another aid worker in an ambush in the west of the country in May 2006.
A spokesman for President Hamid Karzai said efforts were under way to secure the safe release of two French aid workers, abducted by the Taliban along with three Afghans in the southwestern province of Nimroz on April 5. He did not elaborate.
In a separate incident, a blast in a school compound killed four students in the western city of Herat, officials and witnesses said.
Police in Herat, which is relatively peaceful compared with the insurgency-plagued south and east, blamed the Taliban.
On Monday, a suicide bomber killed nine police in the northeastern town of Kunduz. The Taliban claimed responsibility. (Additional reporting by Saeed Ali Achakzai)
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