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    June 26, 2011

Latest Afghan Violence Takes Toll on Women and Children

   VOA News
   Photo: voa

   Afghan officials say a hospital bombing and an attempted attack on a
   police outpost have killed mostly unsuspecting women and children.
   On Sunday, Afghanistan's interior ministry accused insurgents of giving
   a bag of explosives to an eight-year-old girl and telling her to
   deliver it to a police station.
   Authorities said that as the little girl approached the outpost in
   southern Uruzgan province on Saturday, the bag exploded, killing her.
   Also Sunday, Afghan officials said the death toll from a suicide attack
   on a hospital in eastern Afghanistan has risen to 38, with most of the
   victims being women and children.
   Another 50 people were wounded in the Saturday attack in Logar
   province's Azra district, near the border with Pakistan.
   Authorities said a sports utility vehicle rammed into the hospital and
   blew up, devastating the building and burying people in the rubble.
   The Taliban has denied responsibility for the attack. However, the
   insurgent group is active in the region and often carries out suicide
   attacks.
   Separately, NATO said three of its service members were killed during
   operations in Afghanistan on Sunday.
   The coalition said a roadside bomb killed two troops in western
   Afghanistan and a similar bomb killed another a service member in
   southern Afghanistan.
   On Wednesday, U.S. President Barack Obama announced 10,000 American
   troops will be withdrawn from Afghanistan by the end of the year. And a
   total of 33,000 U.S. forces will be withdrawn September of 2012.
   Some Afghans are concerned that gains made against the Taliban will be
   lost if foreign troops are withdrawn before Afghan forces are ready to
   take over security.