Five agents are killed in Afghanistan bomb attack
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Your support makes all the difference.The American-sponsored Afghan interim government suffered a fresh setback yesterday when five intelligence agents were killed by a man armed with explosives.
According to the chief of police in the capital, Kabul, where the deaths occurred, explosives hidden under the man's clothes detonated as he was being driven away by the agents shortly after his arrest.
The police chief, Baba Jan, said the man was a "foreigner", raising the possibility that he was an Arab al-Qa'ida member. Mr Jan said Afghan security forces had been pursuing him for some time.
It came amid a security clampdown in Kabul because of worries that the government's opponents, notably the Taliban and al-Qa'ida, may attempt to disrupt the loya jirga - "grand assembly" - which is debating Afghanistan's constitution. Among the issues is a dispute between the US-backed transitional president Hamid Karzai, who wants a powerful presidency, and others, including former Northern Alliance commanders, who want a strong parliamentary system.
The killing occurred against a backdrop of daily violence, in which more than 400 people have lost their lives in Afghanistan since early August. Attacks against the UN and relief agencies have risen markedly. Mr Karzai's government accuses Pakistan of failing to clamp down on militants who cross into Afghanistan to carry out the attacks.
But Pakistan has been grappling with security problems of its own: two attempts to assassinate its ruler, General Pervez Musharraf, within 11 days.
Pakistani officials said yesterday they had arrested three suspected Islamist militants in the Pakistan-controlled portion of Kashmir in connection with the second of the two attacks, which took place on Christmas Day. Suicide bombers in two pick-up trucks tried to ram the presidential motorcade before detonating their bomb-packed vehicles. Fifteen people were killed but the general was unhurt.
This came days before Pakistan hosts a summit of regional leaders at which the Indian Prime Minister, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, is expected to be among the guests, in a further sign of thawing relations between the two south Asian foes.
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