KABUL – Afghan police shot dead three suicide bombers attempting to target mayoral offices in the east of the country on Sunday, but a car bomb set up for the attack blew up, killing one worker, an official said.
“At around noon, three suicide attackers with an explosives-packed vehicle tried to enter the municipality building in Gardez and target the city hall, but they were stopped and killed by the police,” Rohullah Samoon, spokesman for Paktia provincial governor said. He said the attackers left their bomb-rigged vehicle, which detonated before foreign troops were able to arrive to defuse it, killing one worker.
The eastern region of Afghanistan has been the focus of US-led NATO efforts in recent weeks, shifting from Taliban strongholds in the south towards the restive wild border with Pakistan where senior militants hold sway.
