<p>Violence in Afghanistan has spiralled in the past year, with Taliban-led militants stepping up their fight against the Afghan government and its Western backers as Kabul prepares to take over responsibility for security gradually from foreign forces. <br /><br />The attackers forced their way into the company’s compound in the Bermel district of volatile Paktika province on Sunday night after killing a security guard, and then detonated a truck laden with explosives, the Interior Ministry said. <br /><br />“As a result, 24 employees of the construction company were killed and 50 others were injured,” it said in a statement. <br /><br />Mohebullah Sameem, governor of Paktika, earlier put the death toll from the attack at 13. <br />He said the dead and wounded included employees of the firm and other civilians. <br /><br />Construction crew members and others working on infrastructure projects are frequently targeted by insurgents. <br /><br />Mukhlis Afghan, governor Sameem’s spokesman, said the firm was one of the largest construction companies in the province funded by the US. government. <br /><br />He said the blasts were so powerful that doors and windows were blown out of nearby houses, but he did not know if there were casualties outside the firm’s compound. <br /><br />Bermel shares a long border with lawless areas of neighbouring Pakistan, where insurgents are said to have safe havens from which they launch attacks inside Afghanistan.</p>
<p>Violence in Afghanistan has spiralled in the past year, with Taliban-led militants stepping up their fight against the Afghan government and its Western backers as Kabul prepares to take over responsibility for security gradually from foreign forces. <br /><br />The attackers forced their way into the company’s compound in the Bermel district of volatile Paktika province on Sunday night after killing a security guard, and then detonated a truck laden with explosives, the Interior Ministry said. <br /><br />“As a result, 24 employees of the construction company were killed and 50 others were injured,” it said in a statement. <br /><br />Mohebullah Sameem, governor of Paktika, earlier put the death toll from the attack at 13. <br />He said the dead and wounded included employees of the firm and other civilians. <br /><br />Construction crew members and others working on infrastructure projects are frequently targeted by insurgents. <br /><br />Mukhlis Afghan, governor Sameem’s spokesman, said the firm was one of the largest construction companies in the province funded by the US. government. <br /><br />He said the blasts were so powerful that doors and windows were blown out of nearby houses, but he did not know if there were casualties outside the firm’s compound. <br /><br />Bermel shares a long border with lawless areas of neighbouring Pakistan, where insurgents are said to have safe havens from which they launch attacks inside Afghanistan.</p>