Attack Is Latest to Jolt a Usually Quiet Afghan Area

08-15-2011 • http://www.nytimes.com/

CHARIKAR, Afghanistan — The governor of Parwan Province, Abdul Basir Salangi, convened a meeting Sunday morning with his top aides to find out why security had not been improved around his offices, 10 days after reports that a group of suicide bombers was planning an attack.

A former jihadi commander from the war against the Soviets, Mr. Salangi is an imposing figure, and his anger was evident as he dressed down the aides, including the provincial police chief. The intelligence was very specific, he told them: The bombers might arrive in a Toyota Corolla.

Just then, as he later recalled the moment, there were two explosions as a group of suicide bombers blew their way into the governor’s compound. In the three-hour firefight that followed, the attackers killed 22 people — 6 of them police officers, the rest government staff members and civilian visitors — before they were subdued.