35 Die in Bus Crash in Afghanistan

VOA News
16 March 2010

Officials in northern Afghanistan say a crash between a bus and an oil truck on a treacherous mountain pass has killed at least 35 people.

Witnesses said the truck burst into flames after hitting a bus traveling on the narrow, 3,400 meters high Salang Pass, which connects Kabul to northern provinces. Last month, at least 170 people died when a series of avalanches struck the road.

Meanwhile, in southern Afghanistan's Helmand province, an official says security forces killed two would-be suicide bombers dressed in burqas.

Provincial spokesman Dawood Ahmadi says the attackers tried to blow up a compound used by a U.S.-based charity International Relief and Development in Helmand's capital Lashkar Gah.

Guards killed the attackers before they could blow themselves up, but at least two bystanders were wounded in the shooting.

On Tuesday, the Afghan government announced it is sending more than 1,000 police officers to the southern city of Kandahar to boost security.

The announcement followed a series of coordinated suicide attacks by the Taliban that killed at least 35 people Saturday.

The Taliban called the attacks a warning to NATO's top commander. U.S. General Stanley McChrystal has said allied forces are preparing to enter Kandahar as part of the next phase of a major anti-Taliban offensive.

Some information for this report was provided by AFP and AP.