First suicide bombing in north Afghan province

[xchrom]

http://uk.reuters.com/article/2011/10/15/uk-afghanistan-attack-idUKTRE79E0I020111015

(Reuters) - Suicide bombers struck inside Afghanistan's fiercely anti-Taliban Panjshir valley on Saturday, the first time in a decade of war that the insurgents have managed to use their trademark tactic in the normally peaceful northern province.

Four bombers targeted the Provincial Reconstruction Team headquarters, which houses U.S. and Afghan troops and civilians, around dawn, Afghan and NATO officials said.

They were halted outside the base, but the deputy provincial Governor Abdul Rahman Kabiri said they had killed two civilians and wounded two guards when they detonated their explosives.

Panjshir Provincial Police Chief Qaseem Junglebagh disputed that toll and said the four men were all shot dead by security forces before they could set off the bombs.