Awwal 10, 1432 / April 14, 2011, SPA -- Four suicide bombers attacked a training area for the new U.S.-backed village defense force on Thursday, killing two trainees and a member of the Afghan National Police, officials said. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack, as AP reported. Azad Khan, the top local official in Jaji district of Paktia province, said the bombers approached an area where about 50 men were being trained for the Afghan Local Police _ a village-level fighting force being developed across the country to counter the Taliban insurgency. Gen. David Petraeus, the top commander of U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan, has referred to the new force as a «night watch with AK-47s.» Khan said one attacker blew himself up, two were gunned down by security forces protecting the area and a fourth attacker disappeared. «We are going to search for him, but it will take time because the area is mountainous,» Khan said. Zakria, a doctor in the local hospital who goes by one name, said the three were killed and two other national policemen were injured in the attack.
