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Afghanistan: Twin blasts hit western city of Herat | Afghanistan: Twin blasts hit western city of Herat |
(30 minutes later) | |
At least five people were killed and about 30 wounded after twin bomb blasts struck the Afghan city of Herat. | |
The fatalities occurred after a roadside bomb in the centre of the city, which is not far from the western border with Iran. | |
In the second assault, a suicide bomber attacked the Nato-led Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) base on the outskirts of the city. | |
The Taliban recently declared a "spring offensive" of attacks in Afghanistan. | The Taliban recently declared a "spring offensive" of attacks in Afghanistan. |
'Several attackers' | |
An Afghan intelligence official in Herat said the first attack was a "powerful" bomb blast. | |
"It happened at a busy place at a busy time. The windows of nearby buildings were broken. I was nearby when the explosion took place," he told the BBC. | |
Witnesses at the scene of the PRT base said gunshots could still be heard. It is not yet clear if there are more casualties. | |
At least two suicide bombers were said to have attacked the compound, while a number of insurgents tried to get inside. | |
''The attack on the PRT is still going on. We know there are several attackers. Helicopters are hovering overhead," a senior police official told the BBC. | |
He said shops had been closed and that police and army officers had been deployed across the city. | |
PRTs are typically joint military and civilian operations designed to help build up Afghan government capacity in a province. There are 28 of them across Afghanistan. | |
The BBC's Quentin Somerville says Herat - a relatively peaceful city - is due to be soon handed to Afghan control, and so the attack is quite significant. | |
Earlier, Nato generals in Afghanistan apologised after civilians were killed in an air strike on Sunday. | |
Afghan President Hamid Karzai had criticised the coalition for the attack, which killed nine people. |