Afghanistan Attack On Government Compound Kills At Least 7 in Farah Province

Afghan boys stand on a hill in Kabul, Afghanistan, Wednesday, May 16, 2012. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul)

KABUL, Afghanistan -- A group of suicide bombers armed with explosive-laden vests, automatic weapons and rocket propelled grenades stormed a government compound Thursday in western Afghanistan, killing at least seven people, officials said.

One of attackers first blew himself up at the gate of the governor's complex in Farah province, then three others fought their way inside, said Raouf Ahmadi, the regional police spokesman.

An ensuing two-hour gunbattle with the police left all the attackers dead, Ahmadi said. He said six policemen and one civilian were also killed in the attack, while another 12 people were wounded.

Government offices are a common target for militants in Afghanistan. Last month two Taliban fighters smuggled guns into the governor's compound in Kandahar, sparking a gunbattle in which two guards and both attackers were killed.

Elsewhere, Taliban militants attacked a NATO supply convoy overnight in Herat province. Provincial police spokesman Raouf Ahmadi said one police officer, two security guards and a militant were killed in the fighting.

Earlier on HuffPost:

Comments

[Patrick Fogarty]

10:50 AM on 05/18/2012

Afghanistan is just full of surprises . After ten years the militants from within that country and without have come to understand allied behavior and have developed a strong and well organized insurgency that is a formidable part of Afghan society , Government , military and police .Undetectable to Western Eyes , they will continue to be that force which will thwart any attempts of taming the hostility towards anyone outside that unsophisticated population . It will be a long time before a major company decides to manufacture and provide work for that impoverished nation . Can you imagine buying a car made in Afghanistan ? WOW.

[Alicia Utley Steeves]

10:46 AM on 05/18/2012

My son is fighting in Afghanistan as we speak. For what? He is losing fellow soldiers everyday, and yet there are still people that say "Didn't Obama bring everyone home??". There is still a war going on that doesn't make much news anymore. Thanks for this reporting on Afghanistan. Too many people think that the "war" is over because we pulled out of Iraq. My son is in gun battles almost daily. PLEASE get them home, and put the money back where it belongs... in the USA. We are still losing too many men and women every week. I don't want to be one of those mothers that looks out my window and sees two men in dress blues walking to my door.

[jason thomson]

12:55 PM on 05/18/2012

Yeah, & the Afghan people are losing men, woman & children every week too.

Remember, your son is in another country killing natives as part of an illegal invasion on behalf of the corporate elite.

Lets not forget who the terrorist aggressors really are.

[jason thomson]

07:07 AM on 05/18/2012

When people are choosing to die for their cause, in such a horrendous way, you know their fight is real, It tells you they are not fighting for profit, but fighting for their beliefs.

"Sooner or later, your conscience is going to bother you. In the end, you have to choose whether you're going to live as a soldier, or just another man with a gun.

What about you, Jack? What's it going to be? Loyalty to your country, or loyalty to me? Your country, or your old mentor? The mission, or your beliefs? Your duty to your unit, or your personal feelings? You don't know the truth yet. But sooner or later you'll have to choose." The Boss, Hideo Kojima.

[itsmrmagoo2u]

05:08 AM on 05/18/2012

They're just showing the world who is really in charge. Get our troops out it's a losing battle.
As soon as we leave things will go back to what they were.
Bring Our Troops HOME!!!!!

[Patricia1111]

10:23 PM on 05/17/2012

These suicide bombers have been brainwashed by their mullahs to thinking they will be getting 72 virgins when they die. Oh how I would love to watch them enter Hell at the moment of their deaths.

[robertstone1robert]

05:53 PM on 05/17/2012

Was that Fatah or Farah Province? Whatever the name, it heralds death and destruction.

[stevendy1]

05:52 PM on 05/17/2012

wait till we leave in a year and a half...now that will be comically absurd....and we are wasting money and lives here for what now ??

[jason thomson]

07:18 AM on 05/18/2012

Corporate profit. They still want to secure Afghanistan's lithium reserves.

[scraper 777]

05:34 PM on 05/17/2012

We need to get out of all Muslim countries they hate America and Israel. I am not really sure if we need there oil but if we do, they need our food and other products every time they raise the price of crude oil we raise the price of wheat and other exports.

[jason thomson]

09:06 AM on 05/18/2012

They hate America & Israel because America & Israel are hate & greed personified.

[RonPaul42012]

10:04 AM on 05/18/2012

I couldn't have said this better myself. If you dont mind my asking, how did you get so aware of how Israel REALLY is??

[queen7ofatlantis]

05:32 PM on 05/17/2012

Here in chicago the protesters ar lining up for the nato meeting, all the business are ragging cause their going to have to close and their losing money. the news did not report what this meeting is for. can you tell us why.

[Lyle R-]

05:17 PM on 05/17/2012

I believe that the mission was to get Ben Laden --- mission accomplished !!!! We have no business in that country, they don't want us there ( and I don't blame them ) -- the Russians wasted 10 years trying to force their will upon it's people -- they didn't suceed and niether will we.

[AnotherAndy]

09:56 AM on 05/18/2012

They don't call Afghanistan the graveyard of empires for nothing.  Even Alexander the Great couldn't conquer and pacify Afghanistan. He died there.

[altheschrod]

04:52 PM on 05/17/2012

"Suicide" bombers must be emphasized. These people are too ignorant to give anyvalue their own lives

[tallndumb]

05:53 PM on 05/17/2012

Japanese Kamikazee pilots were "suicide bombers". American men who stormed Normandy on D-Day knew they had a 50/50 chance at survival. Were they also "suicide bombers"?

[altheschrod]

11:52 PM on 05/17/2012

Both those groups loved their countries and were fighting for it---- the terrorists are not even citizens of Afghaistan!

[homer68]

04:44 PM on 05/17/2012

These thing will always go on in a country of cavemen still living in tribes. There culture has not advanced past midevel times. We will not change it. It is not our place to change it. Get out now!!! No more American kids need to die there.

[queen7ofatlantis]

05:22 PM on 05/17/2012

THEY WOULD RATHER SPEND BILLIONS THERE THAN HELP AMERICA

[jonestopher]

05:47 PM on 05/17/2012

Who is "they"?

[jason thomson]

08:48 AM on 05/18/2012

"...a country of cavemen still living in tribes. There culture has not advanced..."

We have went from peaceful, spiritual people, living free in tribes that teach our children values like respecting nature because everything is connected & we are part of it, that we are all one infinite mind & eternal soul, & DEVOLVED to animal endangering, earth destroying consumers, dependant on technology who live in invisible prisons with invisible handcuffs, with indoctrinating systems that corrupt us instead of educating, who's health hazards & mental disease's have surpassed medical advancements & who wage war-for-profit rackets & allow a comparative handful of dominate men to dictate our lives while we bend over like slaves & pre-occupy ourselves with materialistic garbage.

I'm not sure if "advanced" is the right word.

"All the big colleges that we'v been building, that's taking people the OTHER way. The smartest people in the world, are really the most cut off."

Sound engineer: "In other words, you think mabey progress is not good for mankind?"

"Progress? There's no such thing as progress, there's only change. You dig a hole in the ground & you build up a city & you fight a war, & you call it progress? Haha, you call it change." C.Manson.

[baydolphins]

04:36 PM on 05/17/2012

wow, if we get a group of suicide bombers attacking an Afghan troop daily, before long they will all cease to be a problem...wouldn't that be nice

[readnu0711]

04:09 PM on 05/17/2012

Maybe afghanistan has its own patriots too. The usa needs to cut its losses and pull out today, but I am sure that they want to get their paws on the mineral interests that were found there, so this will drag on in the name of freedom for another 10 years or so. How sad!!!!

[Patricia1111]

04:08 PM on 05/17/2012

Afghanistan is made up of stone aged type of people. Doubt they will ever change. However, that country does great damage to the world in that 90% of the heroin in the world originates from the poppy fields in Afghanistan. I wish our brave men and women serving there in our armed services could be brought home immediately. The Russians learned the hard way and we have now out done them, since we have been there for ten years.

[jason thomson]

09:12 AM on 05/18/2012

When the Taliban took control, they destroyed most of the opium poppies, leaving more than enough for medical purposes.
When the US invaded the country, opium production rose to record breaking levels.

Its not the country that are causing damage via heroin export, its your government. If you want to stop the flow of drugs into the US, then take a good hard look at your CIA.