Kandahar, June 10
A suicide bomb ripped through a wedding party in full swing in the Taliban’s heartland in southern Afghanistan, killing at least 40 persons and wounding dozens more, officials said today.

The blast occurred late yesterday in a housing compound where men had gathered during the festivities, with female guests at a different house that was not hit, one witness said. Interior Ministry spokesman Zemeri Bashary said children were among the dead and wounded.

The family that was attacked included a number of Afghan police officers. The groom’s brother and two of his cousins were in the police force, according to another cousin, Mohammad Alkozay. The groom survived the attack, but was injured.

It occurred in Nadahan village in the Argandab district of Kandahar province, considered the spiritual home of the Taliban, and the focus of an upcoming US military operation.

Bashary said the explosion hit the wedding party about 9 pm, and that it was a suicide attack. He said at least 40 people were killed and 74 were wounded in the blast. The bride and groom survived.

Taliban spokesman Qari Yousef Ahmadi denied the group carried out the attack. US military spokesman Col Wayne Shanks said the deaths were not the result of an airstrike, and said any suggestion otherwise was “Taliban misinformation.” NATO said in a statement that no service members from the alliance were involved in the incident.

Agha Mohammed, who survived the blast, said the guests were all seated and having a meal when the explosion occurred, sending a huge fireball and smoke into the sky.

He said the scale of the destruction caused by the blast was more than was common in a suicide attack.

“We have experience with war and this does not look like a suicide bombing,” Mohammed said. At a news conference in Kandahar city, provincial Gov. Tooryalai Wesa held up a chunk of metal he said was from the site and described it as a piece of equipment usually used in suicide bombs.

He rejected the Taliban’s denial of involvement in the attack. “The Taliban are doing two things at once,” Wesa said. “On one side they target people who are in favor of the government, then at the same time they don’t want people to know their real face.” NATO condemned the attack and said it would help Afghan police investigate the cause. — AP

Moscow, June 10
Hours after UN Security Council imposed fresh tough sanctions against Iran, Russia said it was freezing a contract to deliver S-300 anti-missile system to Tehran.“Under the latest sanctions delivery of S-300 missiles is ruled out,” Director of defence think-tank CAST, Ruslan Pukhov was quoted as saying by Interfax.

The sanctions given the go-ahead by the Security Council last night target supply of weapons to Iran’s powerful revolutionary guards, ballistic missiles and nuclear related investments.

The new resolution also bans Iran from pursuing “any activity related to ballistic missiles capable of delivering nuclear weapons and prohibits the country from buying several categories of heavy weapons including attack helicopters.

However, the foreign ministry and Duma officials reiterated that under last night’s sanctions Russia has the right to deliver ‘purely defensive’ S-300 missiles under the 2005 contract inked with Tehran.

Chief of Duma committee on foreign affairs Konstantin Kosachev said the sanctions would have bearing on S-300 missile delivery to Iran.

The S-300 sales is particularly controversial as Western powers fear Iran would use the sophisticated system to protect its most sensitive nuclear sites against an aerial attack.

Though Russia voted for the sanctions, Moscow warned that it would retaliate if Russian companies or individuals were targeted for any links with Iran.

Islamabad, June 10
Pakistan today dismissed reports that LeT operative David Headley had linked serving Pakistani army officers to the 2008 Mumbai attacks, saying they were based on “misguided leaks” aimed at maligning the country.

Asked about Indian media reports that Headley had named three Pakistan Army officers who collaborated with the terrorists responsible for the attacks, Foreign Office spokesman Abdul Basit said they were based on “self-serving and misguided leaks which are meant only to malign our security agencies and Pakistan”.

“These reports are not worth our comments,” Basit told a weekly news briefing at the Foreign Office.

Headley, who has confessed to plotting the deadly 26/11 attacks, is being questioned by a team of Indian investigators in the US.

Basit said it was “important (and) high time” that India dispensed with its “historical bias against Pakistan so that our two countries can make a new beginning in South Asia with a view to promoting peace and prosperity in our region”.

The reports had said that Headley had told Indian investigators who questioned him that three majors of the Pakistan Army had collaborated with the terrorists who carried out the attack.

Headley also purportedly said that members of the Lashker-e-Taiba carried out the attacks under the “guidance” of Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence agency.

Basit also parried a question about US Assistant Secretary of State for South Asia Robert Blake’s remarks that the US administration had sought assurances from Pakistan that weapons provided by America would not be used against India.

“He (Blake) has said what he had to say and I have nothing to add to what he has said,” Basit said.

The spokesman remarked that the trust deficit between Pakistan and India was “not a new phenomenon” and has been there “for decades because of several reasons”.

Pakistan intended to discuss all these outstanding issues when the Foreign Ministers of the two countries meet in Islamabad on July 15, Basit said. — PTI 

Washington, June 10
The four member NIA team has concluded questioning of Mumbai terror suspect David Coleman Headley and has headed back home, Indian Ambassador to the US Meera Shankar said today.

“This (the questioning) took place over several days, beginning from June 3 and the team is now returning to India on the conclusion of a useful visit,” Shankar said.

“The Government of India attaches importance to this in investigating the full dimension of this heinous act of terrorist violence. The support and cooperation extended by the US authorities is appreciated and is in keeping with the commitment of the two countries to strengthen their cooperation in meeting the challenge of terrorism,” Shankar said. India had asked the US to grant access to the 49-year-old Headley, being held in the federal lock-up Metropolitan Correctional Centre in Chicago. — PTI