Second Briton killed in Afghanistan attacks

FOREIGN SECRETARY Philip Hammond has condemned the “cowardly actions” of the Taliban after the deaths of two Britons in Afghanistan in the space of five days.

A suicide bomber detonated a car packed with explosives yesterday morning near the international airport in the troubled country’s capital of Kabul.

The Foreign Office has confirmed that one of the three peo- ple killed in the bombing was a British national working as a security contractor.

A man holding joint British and Afghan nationality was among 14 people who died in an attack by the Taliban on a Kabul guesthouse last Wednesday.

Mr Hammond said yesterday: “This is the second attack in a matter of days for which the Taliban have claimed responsibility and I strongly condemn their cowardly actions. I can confirm that a British security contractor is among those killed in the attack. His family has been informed and my thoughts are with them at this incredibly difficult time. Consular staff stand ready to provide support.

“Two Afghan women have also sadly lost their lives and many more have been injured.

“These attacks must not stop the people of Afghanistan, with the support of the international community, working towards a more peaceful future.”

Yesterday’s attack appears to have targeted vehicles belonging to the European Union police training mission, Eupol.

The car bomb was set off near the office of the Afghan Civil Aviation Authority, which is a few hundred metres from the airport terminal.

A BRITISH national has been killed in a terrorist car bomb attack in Afghanistan.

A Taliban suicide bomber detonated an explosives-packed car near the international airport in the capital, Kabul, killing at least three people and wounding 18.

The Foreign Office said: “We can confirm that a British national was tragically killed in a terrorist attack in Kabul this morning. We stand ready to provide consular assistance to the family.”

The incident comes just days after another Briton, who held joint Afghan nationality, was killed in an attack by the Taliban on a guest house in Kabul which left 14 people dead.

He was working for the British Council in the country when he was killed.

The attack yesterday morning appears to have targeted vehicles of the European Union police training mission, Eupol.

The car bomb was detonated near the office of the Afghan Civil Aviation Authority, which is a few hundred metres from the airport terminal.

A Taliban spokesman claimed responsibility for the attack.

Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond said: “This is the second at- tack in a matter of days for which the Taliban have claimed responsibility and I strongly condemn their cowardly actions.

“I can confirm that a British security contractor is among those killed in the attack. His family has been informed and my thoughts are with them at this incredibly difficult time. Consular staff stand ready to provide support.

“Two Afghan women have also sadly lost their lives and many more have been injured. These attacks must not stop the people of Afghanistan, with the support of the international community, working towards a more peaceful future.”

A spokeswoman for Eupol, Sari Haukka-Konu, said that one nonmission member who was travelling in a Eupol vehicle had been killed. “All mission members who were in the vehicle are in a safe place and their injuries are not believed to be fatal,” she said. “A non-Eupol person inside the vehicle is deceased.”

The British Embassy in Kabul confirmed that the non-Eupol employee was a British security contractor. It said next of kin had been informed but did not release further details.

Interior ministry spokesman Sediq Sediqqi said two Afghan women were killed in the blast. He described them as “passersby”.

Of the 18 wounded, he said eight were women and three were children. He said three foreigners had been wounded. Eupol’s website said three of its personnel had sustained non-fatal injuries.

Nearby homes and shops were damaged, and the road – choked with traffic throughout the day as vehicles pass through a slowmoving checkpoint into the airport – was strewn with the charred remains of a number of cars.

Officials said that one foreign vehicle and two civilian vehicles were damaged in the blast. Ms Haukka-Konu said two of the mission’s cars were moving in convoy “but only one was involved in the blast”.

A Taliban spokesman claimed responsibility for the attack. The Taliban, who have waged war in Afghanistan for more than a decade, launched their warm weather offensive in late April.

The insurgents claimed responsibility for the attack on a Kabul guesthouse last week that left 14 people dead, including nine foreigners.

All mission members who were in the vehicle are in a safe place Spokeswoman for Eupol

Sari Haukka-Konu