AFP: Gunman plotting Eid attack killed in Herat

October 12, 2007

HERAT, Afghanistan (AFP) — Afghan police Friday shot dead a would-be assailant and captured two others as they planned to attack a government reception marking the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Fitr, officials said.

The gunmen were intercepted in an exchange of fire a few minutes away from the governor’s office in the western city of Herat, near the border with Iran, police chief Juma Khan Adil said.

“These terrorists were planning an attack on government officials including the governor. We had information about it,” Adil told AFP.

“They opened fire on our forces when they started chasing them. We returned fire and killed one of them and injured and captured two others,” he added.

An AFP reporter saw the blood-covered body of a man in a four-by-four vehicle at the side of the road in central Herat, a short distance from where officials were celebrating Eid at the governor’s office.

Adil was unable to say if the gunmen were members of the extremist Taliban militia, which is waging an insurgency against the US-backed government in Kabul.

An investigation has been launched, he said.

Eid al-Fitr marks the end of the holy fasting month of Ramadan.

Radio Sahar: Herat police arrest seven on narcotics smuggling, abduction charges

Text of report by Afghan female-orientated community Radio Sahar on 11 October

[Presenter] Border police are reporting the arrest of seven people. According to the commander of Border Brigade No 4, the men were arrested on charges of drug smuggling and abduction. It is said that one of the officials of the same border brigade has been cooperating with the smugglers. He has also been arrested. Here is Hami Azad with further details:

[Correspondent] Col Rahmatollah Safi, commander of Border Brigade No 4, said one of his colleagues had been arrested on charges of helping the drug smugglers. The man has admitted to his crime under interrogation, he said. Mr Safi added that five other people were arrested for drug smuggling with 120 kg of drugs. The police have also seized a machinegun from the smugglers. The officials of the same brigade have also arrested a man on charges of kidnapping.

[Safi] We have seven accused. Five are drug smugglers who were arrested with a PK machinegun and a vehicle. We also arrested a border policeman, who helped and bribed from the smugglers.

[Correspondent] He added that the border police have seized a BM1 rocket with several rounds in Koh-e Zard, Musa Abad region in a separate operation. He said that unidentified people intended to bring the BM1 into the city. He also reported the discovery of several anti-tank mines in Kohsan District. These weapons and ammunition are seized amid local authorities’ efforts to provide a better ground for the holding of ECO summit. Although officials are saying that security has been tight these days, the presence of insurgents in the environs of the city has posed a threat.

[Description of Source: Herat Radio Sahar in Dari -- local independent radio station in Herat run mainly by women. OSC IAP20071011950064 1230 GMT 11 Oct 07]