Afghanistan

Suicide attack kills five, Lithuanian soldier killed in riot

Article published on the 2008-05-23 Latest update 2008-05-23 13:19 TU

International troops in Afghanistan
(Photo: Wikimedia)

Afghan officials reported four soldiers and a child killed in a suicide-bombing in eastern Khost province on Friday. A Lithuanian soldier and two Afghans were killed on Thursday when a 2,000-strong crowd attacked a base of the Nato military alliance in ongoing protests at a US soldier in Iraq using the Koran for target practice.

The Khost attack comes after Thursday's bicycle bomb in the southern city of Kandahar, which killed one soldier and injured another, and the discovery in central Ghazni of the bodies of three security guards who had been kidnapped a week earlier.

A spokesperson for the Khost government said that three civilians were wounded. Taliban representative Zabihullan Mujahed claimed responsibility for the attack.

Meanwhile, Lithuanian Defence Minister Juozas Olekas says that his country will not withdraw its 120 troops working with Nato forces in Afghanistan after Thursday's fatality.

The soldier, Arunas Jarmalavicius, was killed when about 2,000 demonstrators tried to storm a Lithuanian-commanded Nato base in the small town of Chaghcharan, the capital of Ghor province.

Shooting broke out, and while police blame anti-government fighters, provincial council chief Mohammad Daud Ghafari says that police and Nato soldiers opened fire on the crowd.

Nato's International Security Assistance Force (Isaf) blames the shooting on Afghan police and says that two civilians were killed and seven wounded. Ten Afghan police were also wounded.