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Germany's first suicide bomber
03 April 2008
The Uzbek group Islamic Jihad Union (IJU) has claimed a German national carried out a 3 March suicide bombing in Afghanistan. The claim suggests the Al-Qaeda linked IJU has strong and ongoing associations with German jihadist recruits as well as the Haqqani Network, the Taliban-affiliated militant group that claimed responsibility for the attack.
On 3 March, Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid announced a suicide bomber had attacked a base used by Afghan and foreign forces in the Sabari district of Khowst province in southeast Afghanistan. He identified the bomber as a Taliban fighter called Abdullah and said he had killed a large number of Afghan and foreign soldiers when he detonated a Mazda vehicle packed with explosives inside the base.
Lieutenant Colonel David Accetta, a US military spokesman in Afghanistan, confirmed to Jane's that a suicide bomber attacked the District Centre in Sabari with a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device (VBIED) on 3 March. He said that two US soldiers serving with the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) were killed in the attack. They were partnered with the Afghan National Security Forces based at the District Centre.
Haqqani Network
Siraj Haqqani, the leader of a Taliban-affiliated militant group that the US military has dubbed the Haqqani Network, telephoned the Pakistani daily The News to claim he had personally masterminded the attack. He said a gunman opened fire on the guards manning the main entrance into the base, allowing the suicide bomber to drive his vehicle inside. According to Haqqani, the VBIED consisted of 120 sacks of explosive, two drums of petrol, six gas cylinders and landmines. He said: "Our sources informed us later that the majority of the soldiers were either killed or seriously injured. Later their military choppers came to the rescue, but we forced them to flee by firing missiles and rockets at them."
Lt Col Accetta told Jane's: "I have no reports that medical evacuation helicopters were fired on by anything during subsequent operations to evacuate wounded personnel. Based on the available reporting this does not appear to be a complex multi-mode attack but another example of exaggerated claims from the Haqqani Network. There are conflicting reports that there was gunfire before the explosion but it has not been confirmed that it was part of any insurgent attack or a response by the Afghan National Security Forces to the attack."
Nonetheless, the Haqqani Network is rapidly developing a reputation as the most dangerous group operating in Afghanistan.