Suicide bomber wounds 8 at hospital in Afghanistan
KABUL, Afghanistan -- A suicide bomber dressed in a doctor's white coat slipped into a hospital compound in eastern Afghanistan, where he was challenged by police and NATO soldiers before detonating his explosives yesterday. Seven NATO troops and a hospital employee were injured, a local official said.
The suicide bomber initially was stopped by Afghan police as he entered the compound of the main government hospital in the city of Khost, where about 150 people had gathered for a ribbon-cutting ceremony to open an emergency ward.
The bomber fled as he was being questioned, and NATO troops shot him several times before one soldier "wrestled him to the ground, restraining him long enough to allow the crowd of people to move safely away," a NATO statement said.
That soldier was able to break free before the bomber detonated his explosive and sustained only minor injuries, but two other wounded troops were evacuated to a NATO base for treatment, the statement said. The bomber died.
"The people were running everywhere, and it was difficult at first to figure out what was happening," Cpl. Anthony Rush, who saw the attack, was quoted as saying.
The alliance gave no details on the troops' nationalities; Khost provincial Gov. Arsalah Jamal said they were American, and that one hospital employee also was wounded. Most of the NATO forces in eastern Afghanistan are American.