Bombers linked to the Taleban have killed at least 26 people in two separate attacks in southern Afghanistan today, a day after a Canadian diplomat and two civilians were killed in the area.
A suicide bomber rode a motorbike into a crowd of people watching a wrestling match in Spin Boldak, which borders Pakistan, where hundreds of locals had gathered for a festival. Another 20 people were injured.
The bombing came just hours after a separate attack in Kandahar, 100km to the northeast, killed four and injured 16 Afghan soldiers. The Taleban later claimed responsibility for the bomb, which hit a convoy of army trucks.
The attacks have come at a time when Nato is due to take over more responsibility from US troops in Afghanistan and Washington is looking to trim its commitment.
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Nato officials believe that the Taleban and its supporters are targeting southern Afghanistan because of the alliance’s plan to move into the region this spring, pushing up the total number of troops in the country from 10,000 to 16,000.
The Nato plans have faced some opposition and the Dutch parliament is due to debate on January 25 whether to commit 1,400 more troops to the volatile south, a highly contentious issue in the Netherlands given the dangers.
The European Union’s special representative to Afghanistan, Francesc Vendrell, gave warning last week it would be a heavy blow for Europe’s prestige in Afghanistan if the Netherlands found it impossible to send forces to the south.
The attack in Spin Boldak, which set several cars on fire, is the bloodiest in a series of about 25 suicide attacks in Afghanistan in the past four months.
It is the third attack in two days in Kandahar, the southern province that used to be a stronghold for the Taleban. Spin Boldak used to house a huge Taleban-run camp for refugees turned back at the borders of Pakistan.
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On Sunday an apparent suicide attack on a Canadian military convoy in Kandahar killed Glyn Berry, 59, a veteran Canadian foreign affairs official, and two Afghans. Three Canadian soldiers were wounded, two critically.
The lawless frontier land between Pakistan and Afghanistan, where several senior members of al-Qaeda are believed to be hiding, became the subject of an international controversy over the weekend after America tried to kill Ayman al-Zawahiri, Osama bin Laden’s deputy, in a village in Pakistan.
An unmanned drone fired several missiles into three buildings in Dambola, a village in the Bajur tribal region, killing at least 17 people, mostly women and children. The attack prompted thousands to protest throughout Pakistan on Sunday.