Taliban bombers launch attacks

Herat: Taliban suicide bombers launched simultaneous attacks on three government buildings in southwestern Afghanistan on Monday, killing four people, including a government official, the Interior Ministry said.

The Taliban has carried out a series of attacks in the Afghan south in recent weeks, targeting government buildings and officials in an attempt to weaken the government and drive foreign forces out of the country.

The latest attacks came only weeks ahead of a major military offensive in southern Kandahar province, being billed as central to US and Nato commander General Stanley McChrystal's plan to turn the tide in the war.

Yesterday's attacks, involving nine gunmen wearing suicide vests, took place in the town of Zaranj, the capital of Nimroz province, only miles from the Iranian border.

Provincial police chief Abdul Jabar Pordeli said eight of the bombers detonated their explosives at three separate locations in the town — the governor's compound, the justice department and the court house.

The ninth bomber was gunned down by security forces, he said.

The Interior Ministry issued a statement after the attacks saying four people — a provincial council member, two policemen and one civilian — had been killed. Eight policemen and one civilian were also wounded, it said.

Gunbattle

Afghan security forces fought with some of the attackers in a gunbattle lasting more than two hours before the attack ended.

Taliban spokesman Qari Yousuf Ahmadi said earlier fighters had killed at least 20 members of the Afghan security forces and were trying to seize the governor's building. The Taliban often inflate the numbers of casualties its fighters inflict on foreign and Afghan forces.

Nimroz is a largely desert province that shares a long border with Iran and lies next to Helmand, Afghanistan's most violent province.

Nimroz base

US Marines have a base in Nimroz from where they launch operations there and in Helmand.

US troops are massing in Kandahar, the spiritual homeland of the Taliban, preparing for what will be the largest offensive of the nearly nine-year-old war, expected to begin next month.

The operation will use the bulk of the 30,000 reinforcements pledged by US President Barack Obama. It will involve more than 23,000 ground troops, including about 8,500 Americans, 3,000 Canadians and 12,000 Afghans.