November 23, 2007: In
Afghanistan, an examination of the 77 people killed by a November 6 suicide
bomb attack, found that most of them were killed by bullets, not the bomb. The
bullets came from the bodyguards of tribal chiefs and politicians that were at
the gathering. More than a hundred people were wounded as well, and most were
hit by bullets. The bodyguards fired for more than three minutes after the bomb
went off. Most of the dead (61 of 77) were students from a local school. Five
teachers and five bodyguards also died. There were several notables, and their
heavily armed bodyguard, present at the ceremony recognizing the opening of a
factory. There were several hundred people in attendance, about a third of them
children.
The official government story
is that many of the victims were hit by ball bearings that were part of the
bomb. No one took responsibility for the bombing.
