4 Threat Matrix: Suicide bomber kills 7 Afghans at Kandahar university
Written by Bill Roggio on July 2, 2012 11:41 AM to 4 Threat Matrix
Available online at: http://www.longwarjournal.org/threat-matrix/archives/2012/07/suicide_bomber_kills_7_afghans.php
A suicide bomber killed at least seven Afghan civilians and wounded more than 20 in an attack at Kandahar University. From Xinhua:
"Based on initial reports from our police, seven civilians were killed and 23 others injured in the suicide car bomb attack near the Kandahar University building Monday evening," a spokesman for provincial government, Jawid Faisal, told Xinhua.He said the casualties could go higher.
The Toyota Corolla used in the attack was in a parking area for cars in front of the university which is in the southern Kandahar province's capital city, Kandahar provincial spokesperson Jawed Faisal said.The bomber detonated the explosives close to 7pm, Faisal said.
The provincial police chief confirmed the attack and the casualties.
The Taliban have yet to claim credit for the suicide attack. Today's suicide attack in Kandahar was likely carried out by the Mullah Dadullah Front, a powerful wing of the Taliban in the south that has adopted al Qaeda's tactics and ideology. The Mullah Dadullah Front is led by none other than Mullah Adbul Qayoum Zakir, the former Guantanamo Bay detainee who has since been promoted as the Taliban's top military commander and co-leader of the Taliban's Quetta Shura. In December 2010, Coalition and Afghan special operations troops captured a senior Mullah Dadullah Front financier and weapons facilitator.
The last major attack in Kandahar that was likely carried out by the Mullah Dadullah Front took place on June 18, when two suicide assault teams attacked a US base and Afghan police.