Marketplace blast kills nine in Afghanistan

Los Angeles Times

KABUL, Afghanistan — In a rising tide of violence in eastern Afghanistan, a suicide bomber struck a crowded urban marketplace Thursday, killing at least nine people, and another blast rocked a provincial governor’s compound, injuring the acting governor and several aides.

In the east’s main city of Jalalabad, meanwhile, about 5,000 demonstrators shouted anti-American slogans while protesting the deaths of several children in an explosion Wednesday.

In a reflection of increasing anti-U.S. sentiment that accompanies civilian deaths or injuries caused by either side in the conflict, the protesters burned an effigy of President Barack Obama and yelled “Death to America!”

Afghan authorities said the blast in the marketplace was caused by a land mine that went off when a police vehicle ran over it.

NATO forces said the cause of the explosion, which also injured nine Western troops, was under investigation.

Eastern Afghanistan has been the focus of an escalating confrontation between Western forces and insurgent groups that include the Pakistan-based Haqqani network.