Taliban fighters kill at least 19 in attack on Kandahar police headquarters

[bemildred]

Source: WaPo

KABUL - Taliban fighters deploying car bombs and rocket-propelled grenades killed at least 17 members of the Afghan security forces and two civilians in the southern city of Kandahar on Saturday, the U.S.-led coalition said in a statement.

The Taliban asserted responsibility for the attack, which also wounded at least 49 people, including nine schoolchildren.

According to accounts from NATO and Afghan officials, four Taliban fighters started firing rockets from a nearby wedding hall just before noon and then detonated a car bomb outside police headquarters. Three of the rockets struck the headquarters, while the fourth hit a school, officials said.

At a news conference after the hours-long battle ended, Maj. Gen. Salim Ehsas, the police commander in Kandahar, said the attack was part of an apparent plan to set off six car bombs throughout the city. Two other bombs exploded, he said, while police found and defused the rest.

Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/02/12/AR2011021203624.html