Aftermath of Kandahar blast which killed at least 43 people скачать в хорошем качестве

Aftermath of Kandahar blast which killed at least 43 people

(26 Aug 2009) SHOTLIST 1. Soldier with gun in front of security cordon 2. People surveying damage at scene of blast 3. Men looking at damaged car 4. People walking past damaged building and rubble 5. SOUNDBITE (Pashtu) Mohammad Ibrhim, Vox pop: "Yesterday we closed our shops and went home and a big blast was heard, we were prevented by security forces from approaching our shop. This morning when I returned I found everything totally destroyed." 6. Various of people surveying aftermath of blast site 7. Traffic on street STORYLINE Rescue workers were still pulling out injured people on Wednesday in Kandahar after a deadly explosion ripped through a central area of southern Afghanistan's largest city just after nightfall on Tuesday. The blast killed at least 43 people and wounded 65 others, according to the Interior Ministry. It flattened buildings and sent flames shooting into the sky on the same day that the first preliminary results were released from last week's landmark presidential vote. The thundering blast occurred in a district that includes United Nations facilities and an Afghan intelligence office. Kandahar is was hit by rockets on the morning of election day as Taliban militants appeared to make good on threats to try to disrupt last Thursday's polling with violence. However, a Taliban spokesman on Wednesday denied any responsibility for Tuesday's explosion in Kandahar, and said that the militant group condemned the attack. "We are denying responsibility, and condemn this attack in which innocent civilians were killed," purported Taliban spokesman Qari Yousef Ahmadi wrote in a text message sent to an Associated Press reporter. The Interior Ministry said the blast was from remote-controlled explosives planted in a truck. Local officials have said a cluster of vehicle bombs detonated nearly simultaneously near a Japanese construction firm that is involved in reconstruction efforts in the southern Afghan city. The company recently took over a contract to build a road that insurgents had stalled for several months. An Afghan employee of the international Red Cross was killed in the explosion, the group said. Abdul Wadood, a water engineer, was at home when the blast caused his ceiling to collapse, it said. The violence came as Afghans heard the first fragmented returns of the presidential vote, putting President Hamid Karzai and his main rival, former Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah, virtually even. The figures, from 10 percent of more than 27 thousand polling stations nationwide, raised the possibility of a runoff that could drag the process out for months. Meanwhile, a provincial official was killed in northern Afghanistan on Wednesday by a bomb planted in his car, authorities said. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter:   / ap_archive   Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​ Instagram:   / apnews   You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...