A Taliban attack against ISAF headquarters of the Afghan campaign muddies

Kabul, 15 Aug 2009. - The Taliban now muddied the Afghan campaign with a suicide bombing that caused seven deaths in front of the ISAF headquarters in Kabul, which occurred just hours after an attack with seven rounds against the Spanish military base in Herat in the west.
At 0830 am (0400 GMT), a deafening roar gave way A dense column of white smoke from the fortified district of Wazir Akbar Khan and visible from several points of Kabul.
They are based, among other buildings, the U.S. embassy and the headquarters of ISAF, the NATO mission in the country, as far as suicide came aboard a vehicle that blew up despite to the tight security.
The Afghan Ministry of Defense confirmed that the attack killed seven people and wounded to another 91, mostly Afghan workers waiting at the gates of the headquarters of the organization to enter the premises.
In a statement, ISAF recognized that the explosion took the lives of several civilians and several soldiers were also injured foreigners, but without to specify the number of victims.
The attack was claimed by the Taliban, whose spokesman, Zabiullah Mujahid said Efe by telephone from an undisclosed location that the purpose of suicide was to attack the U.S. embassy and the headquarters of the ISAF.
"(The attack) was executed with an SUV loaded with 500 kilograms of explosives," said Mujahid, who said he killed 25 people.
Local channels broadcast images of the teams of firefighters and rescue services efforts to extinguish the fire caused by explosion, including concrete blocks and security barriers that protect the central capital area.
The city of Kabul is under a strong surveillance patrol of ISAF, Afghan troops and local police, surrounding government buildings and access control the tracks have their headquarters where foreign embassies.
Despite As a result, the Kabul airport yesterday received the impact of two projectiles, according to the U.S. military, after eight more rockets fell in the city on August 4, launched from nearby rural areas to the capital.
In the rest of the country, despite the additional deployment of troops on the occasion of the elections, the Taliban have increased in recent weeks attacks and several rockets were fired yesterday on the Spanish Forward Support Base for the second time in a week.
The General Staff of the Spanish Defense (EMAD) detailed in Madrid that were released between 22.35 and 22.55 local time (18.05 and 18.25 GMT) on the basis, although there were no deaths or injuries.
Afghanistan held on August 20 presidential elections and to provincial councils, but the Taliban have asked the public to boycott the elections and have launched attacks across Afghanistan the process.
As well as threatening who vote to cut off fingers, insurgents have staged looting of candidates for office, killed activists and attempted to end the lives of several leading Afghan politicians.
On Thursday, former Afghan President Burhanuddin Rabbani, a supporter of opposition candidate Abdullah Abdullah, escaped unhurt from a Taliban ambush on their convoy as he traveled the northern district of Kunduz.
The candidate to vice president Mohamd Qasim Fahim, a former "warlord" who concurs in the list of the current head of state, Hamid Karzai, had another similar attack in late July, although unhurt.
"The enemies of Afghanistan, such attacks on the eve of the elections, they want to create fear among the people. But they must know that the Afghans know the importance of going to vote, "Karzai said today after the suicide bombing in Kabul in a statement.
His press officer, Sediq Sediqqi confirmed Efe that Karzai keep his campaign events and maintained that the Taliban "will fail to change the will of the people" despite his efforts to shake up the electoral process.

Hyderabad, calm tense after attack on mosque and police brutality

New Delhi, 19 may 2007. - The southern city of Hyderabad India woke up today with an atmosphere of tense calm following the attack reported Friday in a mosque and after learning that some of the 16 dead were killed by police gunfire.
"Eleven people died in the explosion inside the mosque during prayers, and five died under police fire in the old city after the attack", said the governor of the region of Andhra Pradesh, YS Reddy, was quoted by the agency India PTI.
In Hyderabad, the shops were closed and public examinations were postponed, following a strike called to protest the bomb blast, but police brutality.
The attack occurred inside the Macca Mosque, one of the oldest and largest in India, where thousands of devotees were preparing to make the mandatory Friday prayers, at around one thirty in the afternoon.
In the mosque there were four bombs hidden in lunch boxes, but ultimately only one of them exploded, while the others were later cleared by police.
The explosion sparked panic among the worshipers, who fled in stampede and, outside the religious center, demonstrated violently in the old city against the security forces, which suppressed shot in riot gear and the protests.
While this was happening, the dead and wounded, the last 61 in total, were taken to a nearby hospital where an examination revealed that some of them had gunshot wounds, said the television channel NDTV.
The regional governor, who had acknowledged in a statement before the death of "two or three people" because of police action, later apologized for the actions of the police, ensuring that prompted an investigation "if the facts warrant."
Reddy, who was in New Delhi when the attack occurred, he announced his return to Hyderabad after news of what happened and today visited the scene of the attack, which also announced compensation for the families of the victims and call for calm.
Reddy's announcement comes after the first investigations of Police, announced today the discovery of a mobile phone card with one of unexploded ordnance.
With this card, which is allegedly a member of the Islamic terrorist group "Harkat-ul-Jihad" (HUJI), researchers now say there is a direct connection between the attack on Friday and the explosions that took place in the city of Malegaon (west) on September 8, 2006.
At that time, two bombs placed near a mosque, also in day of prayer, killed 31 people in a town that had suffered severe religious conflicts in the past.
"It's a terrorist attack that seeks to provoke clashes between different religious communities in India," he said today in Hyderabad Minister Shivraj Patil, who today visited the mosque next to Reddy.
The Mecca Mosque, apart from one of the largest Islamic centers and old from all over India, is considered sacred by the devotees of this religion in Hyderabad, capital of the region of Andhra Pradesh, where Muslims account for 10 percent of the population.
The authorities have already announced an aid of 9,000 euros, a house and a government job for each of the families of the deceased, including those killed in police firing.
In Hyderabad, while the search for the smallest of 10 years Salman, who disappeared after the explosion at the mosque, concluded today with a happy ending after a day of uncertainty: the boy was only slightly injured-and-in another hospital.

Major cities on high alert after blast in mosque killing seven people

New Delhi, 18 may 2007. - Authorities in India said today the state of alert in major cities, after the attack that has claimed the lives of seven people in a crowded mosque in Hyderabad (south) in which a bomb exploded as thousands of faithful prayed.
The explosive, "unsophisticated" and was kept in a lunch box, police said, was detonated with a mobile phone at 13.25 local time (07.55 GMT) in the Mecca Mosque of Hyderabad.
Following the explosion killed seven people and wounded 35 others.
After moving to the area, security forces found two unexploded ordnance, which were deactivated.
"It seems to be a terrorist act," said Indian Minister Shivraj Patil.
Inside the mosque were some 10,000 faithful, full day of prayer, who fled in panic when they hear the detonation, while the wounded were taken to hospital for care Osmania.
Police later cordoned off the area where he was deployed a Rapid Action Battalion in riot gear trying to control the protests of hundreds of Muslim worshipers who threw stones at security forces.
The Mecca Mosque, apart from one of the largest Islamic centers and old from all over India, is considered sacred by the devotees of this religion in Hyderabad, capital of Andhra Pradesh, where Muslims account for 10 percent of the population .
Although the police have not yet revealed any details about the authorship, the attempt has awakened the ghosts of religious conflicts affecting the country from time to time, hence the authorities are quick to declare a state of alert in the major cities shortly after the explosion.
In Bombay (Western India), protesters stoned several buses, but local police said the situation was under control, while in the national capital, New Delhi, the authorities tightened security in religious institutions, train stations and metro stations, bus terminals and shopping centers.
"It has been declared a high alert level because of what happened in Mecca Mosque. Police surveillance is kept constant, "a police source in Calcutta (east), was quoted as saying India PTI.
Security forces have not made ​​public any theory about the motive for the attack, although India has suffered similar actions in the past, such as occurred in the western town of Malegaon on September 8, 2006.
At that time, two bombs placed near a mosque, also in day of prayer, killed 31 people in a town that had suffered severe religious conflicts in the past.
But also today the explosion occurred the same day as the special court which will hear the bloody Mumbai attacks 14 years ago had to start giving the first convictions.
The slaughter of Bombay, which killed 257 people, occurred on March 12, 1993, when thirteen bombs exploded in a chain trains as a group called revenge for the thousands of Muslim killed by Hindu extremists in the riots following the demolition of an old mosque.
In the absence of a final version, the Governor of Andhra Pradesh, YS Rajshekhar Reddy, who was visiting New Delhi and travels back to Hyderabad.
"In the last two and half months, we received some information that some elements 'antisocial' were trying to break the peace. We take all measures, but still these things happen, "said Reddy told reporters.