AFGHANISTAN: TWO CHARGED IN DEADLY BANK ATTACK EXECUTED
June 20, 2011: Two men charged with murder for a February bank attack that killed 38 people were hanged around 11.00 am in Kabul, a spokesman for Afghanistan's intelligence agency said.
Lutfullah Mashal, spokesman for the National Directorate of Security, identified one of the men as Zar Ajam of Pakistan. He identified the other man as "Matiullah, whose real name was Mahmood," a resident of eastern Afghanistan.
A third person involved in the attack has been sentenced to 20 years in prison, Mashal said.
In February, a group of attackers stormed a branch of the Kabul Bank in Jalalabad, the capital of Nangarhar province. Four of them were killed, Interior Ministry spokesman Najib Nekzad said at the time.
Nekzad said 13 police officers were among those killed in the attack. The February 19 incident also left 41 people wounded, including 14 police officers, he said.
Fighting between attackers and security forces lasted for more than four hours, said Ahmadzia Abdulzai, a spokesman for the provincial governor.
The NATO command in Afghanistan said reports indicated the incident might have been a suicide attack. It issued a statement saying three people apparently entered the bank wearing suicide vests and detonated themselves.
An eyewitness said some civilians were taken hostage. (Sources: CNN, DPA, 20/06/2011)
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