Two die in suicide attack at Kabul shopping mall

Two people were killed today (14th Feb) in a suicide bombing at a shopping mall that is frequented by foreigners in Kabul, officials said.

The blast happened in Charrahi Ansari area in downtown Kabul. City Center is a shopping mall frequented by foreigners and wealthy Afghans.

Private security personnel guarding the Kabul City Centre shot at the attacker after he tried to enter the mall, said Zamarai Bashiri, Interior Ministry spokesman.

'The bomber managed to explode his vest, and two guards were martyred,' Bashiri said. Two more people were injured.

Mohammad Zahir, head of the criminal investigative department of the Kabul police, said his forces were trying to find out if more bombers were inside the building.

Two police helicopters were hovering over the area while roads to the Share-e-Naw area, where the mall is located, were cordoned off by security forces.

The attack came two days after five bombers attacked police headquarters in the southern city of Kandahar, killing 21 people and injuring at least 60.

US troops killed in Afghan suicide blast

(AFP) – US soldiers have been killed in a suicide blast in southern Afghanistan's biggest city, Kandahar, along with an Afghan interpreter for the US military, police said Monday.

Khan Mohammad Mujahid, the provincial police chief for Kandahar, could not specify exactly how many troops died in the attack on the customs office in the city, which is seen as the birthplace of the Taliban.

But a spokesman for the international force in Afghanistan said he believed the number was "not high."

The attack is the latest in a string of bloody incidents to hit Kandahar, which has been the scene of a major anti-Taliban offensive by international troops.

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