KABUL, Afghanistan — A retired US Customs employee and two British soldiers died in insurgent attacks in southern Afghanistan.
A suicide bomber killed the retiree and wounded three other American customs workers Monday in Kandahar, which remains a hotbed of Taliban activity despite an influx of US troops over the past year.
US Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said in a statement released late Tuesday in Washington that David Hillman, a retired Customs and Border Protection officer who had worked for the US government for 30 years, died in the blast at the Inland Customs Warehouse in Kandahar.
Afghan police said the suicide bomber detonated his explosives inside the city’s customs house compound during a visit by NATO forces.
The Taliban in Kandahar are attacking officials and others who support progovernment forces. Earlier this month, a suicide bomber killed the province’s deputy governor.
The British Ministry of Defense said the two soldiers from a parachute regiment were shot and killed while on patrol in Nad Ali district of Helmand Province yesterday morning. Ten NATO service members have been killed so far this month.
In northern Afghanistan, a roadside bomb exploded and killed the director of criminal investigations in Chimtal district of Balkh Province. Provincial police spokesman Sher Jan Durani said yesterday that four bodyguards were also wounded when the bomb hit the vehicle carrying the official, Noor Ahmad.
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