Rash of bombings in Afghanistan

A day after a suicide bomber killed at least 16 people, including 13 schoolchildren, in a region bordering Pakistan, a new rash of bombings shook different areas of Afghanistan on Monday, killing two civilians north of Kabul and two more in Kandahar Province. The explosion on Sunday detonated outside a local government compound in Khost Province and wounded 53, local government officials and coalition forces said. The bombing, near the border with Pakistan, occurred next to a school, and many children were among the wounded. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack. Coalition forces provided a video showing about 15 children walking on the street as they were engulfed by a ball of fire. Mark Larter, a spokesman for the coalition forces, said the death toll also was based on reports of troops at the scene. Two police officers were among the dead. The number of suicide bombings in Afghanistan has fallen sharply since 2006, mainly because of better intelligence and a proliferation of security checkpoints. But in Khost Province, which borders the tribal area of Pakistan's North Waziristan, a wave of violence continues to overwhelm security officials. On Monday morning, moreover, a suicide car bomber in a black Toyota Corolla killed two civilians and wounded 15, including two American servicemen in Chire-kar, the capital city of Parwan Province just north of Kabul, U.S. forces and local government officials said The attack occurred outside of the local governor's office, and most of wounded were government employees, said Abdul Jabar Taqwa, the governor. Mr. Taqwa said he entered the compound only two minutes before the blast, and was unharmed. He said he noticed a U.S. convoy on the road near his office. Several hours later, in Kandahar Province, a remote-controlled bomb exploded at a marketplace in Spin Boldak district, killing two civilians and wounding 19. Five of the wounded are in critical condition, said Zalmay Ayobi, spokesman for the governor of Kandahar. The bomb targeted a passing police vehicle, but missed. Despite the overall drop in the number of bombings, suicide attacks around the country have become more technically sophisticated and have grown in scale, including Sunday's attack, in which a huge fireball towered over the compound's security blockade. In November 2007 in Baghlan Province, north of Kabul, a suicide bomb laced with ball bearings killed more than 70 people, including six members of Parliament, and wounded more than 100, mostly children. Sunday's blast occurred as local leaders and tribal elders gathered inside the government building to discuss security and elections, said Tahir Kahn Sabari, the deputy governor of Khost Province. At the nearby school, the bomb rattled students, ages 6 to 12, who were receiving certificates on the last day of the school year. President Hamid Karzai condemned the attack, saying those responsible "are not aware of the Islamic teachings which outlaw the killing of innocent people." A day earlier the police acted on intelligence to locate a suicide car bomber as he tried to enter the city of Kandahar, said Matiullah Qait, provincial chief of Kandahar. Police vehicles chased the driver, and when he reached a security checkpoint west of the city, he detonated his explosives, killing three policemen and one civilian. Also on Saturday, a roadside bomb killed two Canadian soldiers and two Afghans working alongside them in a dangerous region of southern Afghanistan, Canada's military, quoted by The Associated Press, said on Sunday. Four other Canadian soldiers and one Afghan interpreter were wounded in the blast. On Saturday night, a rare missile attack fell on Kabul, killing three teenage sisters, their family and the police said. The rocket likely was fired from west of the capital, near Wardak Province, where militants have developed a stronghold since last year. No one claimed responsibility for the attack.