Dozens killed in Afghan explosion

[undeterred]

Source: BBC News

A massive car bomb explosion in the southern Afghan city of Kandahar has killed at least 30 people. Dozens more were hurt as buildings collapsed in the attack in the centre of the city, doctors said.

The explosion took place shortly after the first results were announced in the presidential election. Earlier a bomb killed four US soldiers, making 2009 the deadliest year for foreign troops since the US-led invasion overthrew the Taliban.

People were trapped under rubble as the explosion struck close to the offices of the Kandahar provincial council. The area has several hotels and offices of non-governmental organisations.

Agha Lalai, a member of the Kandahar provincial council, told AFP news agency: "It felt like an earthquake. The power went off and there was a huge explosion. Police have cordoned off the area and are busy with the wounded."



Read more: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8221233.stm

[undeterred]

1. Blasts kill 36 in Kandahar as preliminary Afghan election results are declared

At least 36 people died in a multiple car bombing and four US soldiers were killed in a roadside bomb today in a day of violence in southern Afghanistan that overshadowed the release of the first partial results of a presidential election.

The deaths of the four soldiers in the southern province of Helmand made 2009 the bloodiest year for foreign troops in Afghanistan since an American-led invasion toppled the Taleban government eight years ago.

The five simultaneous car bombs in the southern city of Kandahar destroyed the offices of a Japanese construction company, killing women and children and wounding at least 64 people in the bloodiest such attack since July last year.

The bloodshed is likely to prompt further questions about the international mission in Afghanistan following an election last week that was marred by Taleban attacks, low turnout, and allegations of massive fraud. President Hamid Karzai is running neck and neck with his main rival, Abdullah Abdullah, with both men on about 40 percent, according to the first partial results released today.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/Afghanistan/article6809682.ece

[ohio2007]

4. Kandahar . The home town of the Taliban

They are not being very neighborly with their own tribesman. Some will want blood money and if the Taliban don't pay, Tribal honors will come into play.

[Political Heretic]

2. My god..... and this is the "just war" right? The one we're supposed to be fighting...

...Afghanistan is the "good cause" yes?

Please, please bring ALL our troops HOME.

[EFerrari]

3. Someone was arguing to me last week that this fake election

would be a step forward. :eyes:

[winter999]

5. Can you back up your "Fake" allegations?

I listened to NPR coverage all last week and it seemed pretty damned real. For many villages, this is the biggest event every 5 years.

[ohio2007]

7. NPR; Shortage Of Civilian Experts Slows Afghan Rebuilding

August 26, 2009
Thousands of American troops are setting up combat outposts throughout Afghanistan. But in order to rebuild the country, U.S. civilian experts in fields such as farming, irrigation and the rule of law are needed.

And those experts aren't arriving in Afghanistan quickly enough, analysts say.

When soldier-turned-diplomat Karl Eikenberry was the commanding general in Afghanistan in 2007, he would often ask his field commanders: "If you had a choice right now of getting 100 more infantrymen or 10 agricultural experts, which would it be?"

"Nine times out of 10, the answer would be


http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=112263615

nobody wants to read those journalist articles

[ohio2007]

6. Four British soldiers die for sake of 150 votes

Just 150 Afghan voters dared to go to the ballot box in the area of Helmand province where British soldiers sacrificed their lives to secure a safe election day, it was revealed yesterday.

The Electoral Commission in Kabul said that early estimates of voting in the former Taleban stronghold of Babaji, north of Lashkar Gah, the provincial capital, indicated that few exercised their right to vote last Thursday. Several thousand people could have voted.

Four of the ten troops who died in Operation Panther’s Claw, the five-week offensive to drive the Taleban out of central Helmand before the presidential election, were killed in or around Babaji.



.....

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/Afghanistan/article6811537.ece

What would Obama say if asked to comment. I doubt some would lock step with it so lucky for him this story was swept far under the rug.


http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article6797054.ece

[saigon68]

8. The "WINNER"

The Puppet Mayor of Kabul

Ex CIA Operative Charlie McKarzai