Ghanzi bombing: At least 3 killed in Afghanistan
Staff Sgt. Daniel Peters, 1-41 Field Artillery, takes cover behind a stone wall in Zabul Province, Afghanistan after shots rang out in the mountains.
A bomb attack in Afghanistan's eastern Ghanzi province on Sunday killed at least three officers hours after the Taliban announced the start of their spring offensive, reported the Associated Press.
The spring offensive refers to a period of heightened attacks on authorities there, be they Afghan or foreign, the believed goal being Islamic governance. According to Asian News International, the name of this year's offensive is "Khalid bin Waleed," a legendary Muslim general.
The Taliban already claimed Sunday's attack, according to CNN, citing spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid as saying:
"Today was our first day of the new operation, and we conducted many operations in several provinces such as Ghazni province, Kapisa province and Nangarhar province."
"We hope to plan and conduct more attacks on foreign troops so as to force them to leave Afghanistan," Mujahid explained, said CNN.
Ghanzi province deputy governor Mohammad Ali Ahmadi told AP the remote-controlled device went off under a police convoy en route to the Zana Khan area to take part in anti-militant training.
The bomb totally destroyed the car carrying the local police chief, Colonel Mohammad Hussain, killing him alongside two other officers and wounding another two. Ahmadi believed Hussain was specifically targeted, according to AP.
Another Taliban operative's email to the Peshawar-based Frontier Post also singled out Hussain and claimed more were killed, writing that as a result of the attack: "Mohammad Hassan along with five other police were killed."