KABUL — At least 19 people, many of them police officers, died and dozens of others were injured Tuesday in three suicide attacks on government buildings in western and southern Afghanistan, officials said.
The Taliban claimed responsibility for two strikes on a police compound in southern Helmand province, an insurgent stronghold from which the Obama administration plans to withdraw U.S. forces this year.
The third and bloodiest attack took place in Herat, a western province where U.S.-led NATO forces turned security over to Afghan forces last year.
President Hamid Karzai condemned the violence, saying in a statement, “The killing of women and children in the sacred religion of Islam is considered an evil act and cowardice.”
Twelve people died and 29 others, including five women, were wounded when two insurgents detonated explosive vests and a cargo of explosives after guards stopped their vehicle entering the district governor’s compound in Guzara district, near the Herat provincial airport.
One of the attackers was draped in a burqa, the body-length shroud worn by many women in Afghanistan and other conservative Islamic countries, said Gen. Sayed Agha Saqib, the provincial police chief. He said the bombers detonated their explosives at the entrance to the district chief’s office, where Afghan civilians were waiting to get inside.
Helmand is Afghanistan’s largest poppy-growing province, and its production of opium provides the Taliban with an important source of income. A statement from the governor’s office said the two attacks were part of a Taliban effort to halt a poppy-eradication campaign.
