Afghanistan
Afghan police inspect the scene of multiple suicide bomb attacks that targeted the office of the provincial governor in Parwan, Afghanistan. (S. Sabawoon / EPA / August 14, 2011)
By Alex Rodriguez and Aimal Yaqubi, Los Angeles Times
August 14, 2011, 8:10 a.m.
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Reporting from Islamabad, Pakistan —— 
A squad of suicide bombers killed at least 19 people during a raid on a governor's compound in eastern Afghanistan on Sunday, the latest in a wave of attacks targeting top Afghan officials as militants work to undermine President Hamid Karzai's fragile government.

The attack, carried out by six militants storming the walled headquarters of Parwan provincial Gov. Abdul Basir Salangi, likely will deepen concerns about the readiness of Afghan soldiers and police as they take over security responsibilities from U.S. troops in certain areas. Afghan Taliban militants waging a 10-year war against U.S., NATO and Afghan forces claimed responsibility for the attack.

The late-morning raid took place in Charikar, about 30 miles northeast of Kabul, Afghanistan's capital. It began with a suicide car bomber detonating his explosives-filled vehicle at the compound's main gate, said Sediq Sediqi, a spokesman for the country's Interior Ministry. Afterward, five heavily armed militants wearing suicide bomb jackets stormed into the compound and exchanged gunfire with Afghan security forces inside.

Two of the militants detonated their explosives-filled vests inside the compound, while the other three were shot and killed by Afghan security forces, Sediqi said. At least 14 government workers and five Afghan police were killed in the attack. Another 37 government workers and police were injured.

Roshna Khalid, Salangi's spokeswoman, said the attackers were able to get inside the governor's building while a security meeting was underway. Salangi, who was at the meeting, survived the attack. Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said Taliban militants carried out the Parwan attack, claiming 48 Afghan government workers, police and foreign troops were killed. The Taliban routinely exaggerates the number of people killed and wounded in attacks it carries out.

Karzai issued a statement later in the day condemning the attack. "Carrying out terrorist attacks in the month of Ramadan is a sign of cowardice and obvious enmity toward the faithful people of Afghanistan," the Afghan leader said.

In recent weeks, Taliban insurgents have unleashed a devastating series of attacks aimed at top Afghan officials.

Ghulam Haider Hamidi, mayor of the volatile southern city of Kandahar, was killed July 27 by a suicide bomber who hid his explosives in his turban. One of Karzai's top aides, Jan Mohammed Khan, was shot to death at his home in Kabul on July 17, and a week earlier the Afghan president's half brother, Ahmed Wali Karzai, was assassinated at his heavily fortified compound in Kandahar by a trusted associate. In April, a suicide bomber killed Kandahar's provincial police chief, Khan Mohammad Mujahid.
alex.rodriguez@latimes.com
Special correspondent Yaqubi reported from Kabul.
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