Topic: Suicide Bomber Kills At Least 8 In Afghanistan

New York Times
January 24, 2007
By Abdul Waheed Wafa
KABUL, Afghanistan, Jan. 23 — A suicide bomber wearing an explosive vest blew himself up Tuesday at the entrance to a NATO base in the southeastern province of Khost, killing 8 to 10 people, officials said.
The attack occurred as Afghan laborers were lining up for security checks at the pedestrian entrance of the base known as Camp Salerno. The bomber was trying to enter the base, NATO said, but detonated the vest when he reached the search point.
Arsalah Jamal, the Afghan provincial governor of Khost, visited the scene after the bombing and confirmed the deaths of eight civilian laborers and two Afghan security guards, though a NATO statement put the toll at six Afghan civilians and two policemen.
“I confirm 10 people, including two Afghan security guards, were killed in a suicide attack at the entrance of the military base,” Mr. Jamal said.
He said 14 others had been wounded in the attack, all Afghan civilian daily workers for the military base. NATO said only five had been wounded.
Khost, in eastern Afghanistan, borders tribal areas in Pakistan that Afghan and Western officials contend offer a haven for militants organizing suicide attacks.
“Suicide attack is not an Afghani phenomenon,” Mr. Jamal said by telephone. “There are madrasas and camps on the other side of the border where some elements promise passport and visa” to “young people for killing themselves and others.”
The attack was one of the deadliest since Sept. 30, 2006, when a suicide bomber blew himself up outside the gates of the Interior Ministry in Kabul, killing 12 people and wounding up to 40.