23 Afghan Police Killed in Bombings in 24 Hours

Police Announce Arrests in Kandahar

A suicide attack against a police convoy in Kunduz Province killed 10 police, including a counter-terrorism chief, and wounded 18 others on Saturday. This turned out to be just the beginning of a 24 hour spate of bombings that killed at least 23 police and wounded many more.

Other than the suicide bombing, the rest of the deaths were caused in roadside bombing attacks, with police remarking that the bombs in Kandahar Province were particularly powerful and that some seemed to be artillery shells detonated remotely.

So far there were no claims of specific credit for any of the attacks, but Kandahar police blamed the Taliban and announced that they have arrested “suspected bombers” that they believe may have been involved in planting an IED they managed to detect.

Militants have been increasingly interested in targeting police in recent months, with Afghan security forces struggling to keep up morale in the face of low pay, enormous attrition, and the high death count.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.