All Civilians Slain, Most of Them Drivers of Supply Vehicles

Afghans got a stark reminder of just how dangerous it is to be a civilian contractor for NATO today, when a pair of suicide bombers attacked a car park in Kandahar Province that was full of NATO supply vehicles, killing 23 and wounding 50 others.

Provincial police chief Abdul Raziq did not identify any of the victims of the attack by name, but did say that the majority were drivers of the NATO vehicles and other workers associated with them.

The vehicles were heading to the NATO air base in Kandahar, and such supply routes have come under almost constant attack during the war. Taliban spokesman Qari Yousef Ahmadi claimed responsibility for the attack.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai tried to spin the attack as a positive, saying it proved “the enemy is getting weaker because they are killing innocent people.” Similar rationales have been put forward for nearly a decade now to justify claims that the Taliban are on their “last legs.”