KABUL — A suicide car bomber blasted a small clinic Saturday in eastern Afghanistan, causing the building to collapse as mostly women and children lined up for vaccinations, maternity care and other services. At least 35 people were killed in one of the deadliest attacks against civilians this year.
Guards saw a sport utility vehicle charging toward the Akbarkhail Public Medical Center, a compound that provides health care for the mountainous area in the Azra district of Logar province. Before anyone could shoot the driver or blow out the tires, the SUV smashed through a wall and exploded, local officials said.
Wary of being blamed for civilian casualties, the Taliban denied it was behind the bombing. Violence has been on the rise since the Islamic movement launched its spring offensive and promised retaliation for the death of al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.
“This attack was not done by our fighters,” Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid told The Associated Press in a telephone interview.
Survivors of the blast and others who heard the explosion dug through the rubble with shovels and bare hands. At least 35 bodies were pulled from the debris and 53 other people were wounded, said provincial public health director Dr. Mohammad Zaref Nayebkhail.
“We had very good services and lots of patients,” Nayebkhail said. “There were only 10 beds but lots of other services in that center. It’s why the casualties were so high.”
Nayebkhail said an Afghan army helicopter was dispatched to the area to deliver medical supplies and to ferry survivors to other hospitals. He said the clinic had recently been expanded to meet the health needs of the district’s population.
The Taliban claims it does not target civilians, but the movement is fractured, and Saturday’s attacks shared characteristics of recent violence.
A recent U.N. report found that May was the deadliest month for civilians since it began keeping track in 2007, and it said insurgents were to blame for 82 percent of the 368 deaths recorded.
The bombings raised concerns about the readiness of Afghans to take over their own security as the U.S. and other NATO nations begin to withdraw forces. President Barack Obama announced Wednesday that he plans to withdraw 10,000 U.S. troops from Afghanistan by the end of the year. NATO officials insist the Afghan government will be prepared for full sovereignty by 2014.
2011 Afghan civilian casualties
The suicide bombing of a medical clinic Saturday, killing at least 35 people, is one of the deadliest attacks against civilians this year. Other recent attacks on civilians in Afghanistan:
• In February, three men shot 38 people to death at a Kabul Bank branch in Jalalabad.
• A bomb attack in February in the northern province of Kunduz killed 31 people as they waited for government identification cards.
