Attacks in Kandahar; NATO fires on Afghan bus

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (Reuters) - Suicide bombers struck inside Afghanistan's southern city of Kandahar on Monday, and NATO acknowledged its troops opened fire on a passenger bus, killing four civilians and sparking anti-Western protests.

The Kandahar attack was the second big raid in weeks in the city, birthplace of the Taliban and the planned target of a major operation by NATO forces in coming months as they try to turn the tide against the Taliban in a war now more than eight years old.

In another part of Kandahar province, hundreds of protesters took to the streets to demonstrate against the killing of four civilians by international troops who said they had shot at the bus when it failed to stop as it approached a military convoy.

The incident was the second in a week in which foreign troops killed civilians, and could undermine efforts by U.S. and NATO forces commander, General Stanley McChyrstal, to win the trust of ordinary Afghans.

In the attack in Kandahar city, a group of three suicide bombers attempted to seize the main intelligence building in the heart of the city in a brazen daylight raid, officials said.

"They were armed with guns, hand grenades and suicide vests," President Hamid Karzai's half-brother, Ahmad Wali Karzai, head of Kandahar's provincial council, told Reuters.

"One of them managed to blow himself up and the other two were gunned down. Two security officials were wounded," he said, adding the situation was under control after an exchange of fire between the security forces and the assailants.

The assailants threw a hand grenade at a school, wounding a teacher and another worker, he added. People fled from public places in panic and scores of police and army soldiers poured onto city streets, witnesses said.

Gul Padshah, a pupil at the school, said the three men had burst into the school on a three-wheeled motorcycle, with guns hidden in sacks. They forced the pupils into classrooms and climbed onto the roof, where they opened fire on Afghan troops.

Five civilians and four intelligence officers were wounded in the attack, Kandahar governor Tooryalai Wesa told reporters later, adding one of the assailants had been detained.

The Taliban have staged a series of attacks, involving gunmen and suicide bombers who attempt to seize government buildings, in several southern cities and the capital Kabul in recent months.

OFFENSIVE PLANNED

NATO plans a major offensive in Kandahar in coming months, the cornerstone of a U.S. bid to take the advantage with 30,000 extra troops. The strategy depends on winning support of local people, but has been undermined by civilian deaths.

Some 200 protesters blocked part of the country's main highway outside Kandahar city, chanting anti-Karzai and anti-Western slogans after the shooting incident with the bus.

"Death to Karzai. Death to foreign troops. Have they come to help us or kill us?" demanded one protester under blistering sun as a group set old car tires on fire.

Zalmai Ayoubi, spokesman for the governor of Kandahar province, said a foreign military convoy had fired on the bus, killing four civilians and wounding 18 others.

The incident took place early in the morning in Zhari district, west of Kandahar, said Ayoubi. The bus had been traveling along the country's main ring road from Kandahar to Herat in the west.

NATO released a statement after the incident saying the bus was traveling at a "high rate of speed" toward one of its convoys searching for roadside bombs. The bus did not stop when troops used light signals and flares as warnings, NATO said.

"Perceiving a threat when the vehicle approached once more at an increased rate of speed, the patrol attempted to warn off the vehicle with hand signals prior to firing upon it," it said.

"Upon inspection, ISAF (International Security Assistance Force) forces discovered the vehicle to be a passenger bus."

The issue of civilian casualties caused by international forces is an emotive one and undermines support for their presence in Afghanistan. It has also created a rift between Karzai and his Western backers.

Karzai condemned the civilian deaths in a written statement.

"Firing on a passenger bus is an act contrary to the commitment of NATO for protecting civilians and can by no means be justified," Karzai was quoted by his palace as saying.

The United Nations says new guidelines issued by the commander of NATO and U.S. forces last year have helped reduce the number of civilian casualties, but such incidents still cause deep anger among Afghans the foreign troops are meant to protect.

In another sign of the often hostile relations between many Afghans and foreigners, authorities have arrested three Italians working for a medical charity, accusing them of plotting to kill the governor of southern Helmand province.

Dawood Ahmadi, the spokesman for Helmand's governor, said the Italian ambassador in Kabul had visited the governor and assured him the incident would not affect ties between Afghanistan and Italy, which has 3,000 troops in Afghanistan.

(Additional reporting by Jonathon Burch, Sayed Salahuddin and Hamed Shalizi in KABUL; Writing by Jonathon Burch; Editing by Ron Popeski)