Taliban extremists attacked Nagarhar Gov. Gul Agha Sherazi this morning, detonating a car bomb in a crowd of innocent civilians. Initial reports indicate 16 people were wounded and eight people were killed in the explosion.

 

Sherazi was not injured in the attack. Three of the eight people killed were bodyguards for the governor.

 

The attack occurred near the end of a funeral for a former militia commander. The attacker drove his vehicle into the crowd around the governor's vehicle near a mosque and detonated his bomb.

 

"Extremists use their extremist ideology as an excuse to kill and maim," said U.S. Army Col. Thomas Collins, coalition spokesman. "This horrendous attack on innocent people is deplorable. The fact that they detonated a bomb adjacent to a mosque during a funeral shows their hypocrisy, and demonstrates their lack of respect for Islam and the Afghan people."

Elsewhere, Afghan National Army soldiers assigned to 2nd Kandak, 203rd Corps, together with coalition forces, killed at least four extremists and detained six during a morning cordon-and-search operation yesterday in Paktika province.

The combined force swiftly maneuvered to gain the advantage over attacking enemy fighters who were firing from a compound in Lu Chaman Village. There were no injuries to Afghan civilians, Afghan National Army or coalition forces during the operation.

“Today, our intense pursuit of extremists continues to disrupt and eliminate their ability to intimidate and instill fear in the Afghan people,” Collins said.