A blast killed nine Afghan policemen as they were bringing back the bodies of four Macedonians kidnapped and killed by the Taliban and dumped in a valley, the Kandahar provincial governor said on Saturday.
In a separate incident, the Taliban claimed responsibility for killing a powerful former governor of the eastern province of Ghazni, who was shot dead along with four bodyguards.
Kandahar Governor Assadullah Khalid had said on Friday five policemen had been killed after the bodies of the Macedonians were discovered hidden under brush and sticks in a valley near the border with Helmand province.
“At first, the information we got was five policemen were killed and three wounded,” Khalid told Reuters.
“But after the bodies were brought to Kandahar, we found that nine policemen had been killed,” he said.
Several police vehicles were returning with the bodies when one was hit by a blast, apparently caused by a mine, he said. Three policemen were wounded.
Violence has increased in Afghanistan in recent months, especially in the south and east, as the Taliban and allied militants step up their battle to oust foreign forces and overthrow the Western-backed government.
The Taliban have vowed to step up violence, including more suicide bomb attacks, in coming weeks as the weather warms up and snow blocking mountain passes melts. U.S. commanders have also said they expect an increase in insurgent raids and bombs.
NATO members including Britain, Canada and the Netherlands are sending thousands more troops to Afghanistan while the United States is hoping to trim its 18,000-strong force by about 3,000.
Powerful ex-governor
The Taliban said they kidnapped the Macedonians, who were working for a services company, on March 11. A Taliban spokesman later said they had been killed on the orders of Taliban leader Mullah Omar and their bodies dumped.
“These people had come to Afghanistan at America’s behest, therefore they should be sentenced to death,” Taliban spokesman Qari Mohammad Yousuf quoted the order as saying.
An official at the Ecolog cleaning contractor in Kabul said the Macedonians worked for the company.
U.S.-led forces overthrew the Taliban in late 2001 after they refused to hand over Osama bin Laden, mastermind of the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States.
