Bomber kills 45 at Afghan volleyball match

BBC Online :A suicide bomber has killed at least 45 people at a volleyball tournament in eastern Afghanistan, officials say.A spokesman for the governor of Paktika province told the BBC that the attacker had detonated the bomb amid a crowd of people gathering for a game.About 60 people were also wounded in the bombing in Yahyakhail district.It came after Afghan MPs approved security deals allowing Nato and US soldiers to remain after the withdrawal of most foreign troops next month.The total number of soldiers in the new Nato force will be about 12,000. Their mission has been defined as training, advising and assisting the Afghan security forces. There will also be a separate US-led force dealing with the remnants of al-Qaeda.It emerged on Saturday, however, that President Barack Obama has approved guidelines to allow US troops to fight the Taliban and provide air support for Afghan missions.Sunday’s bombing occurred when a crowd of people were preparing to watch the final of a regional volleyball tournament. All the casualties were civilians.Provincial spokesman Mokhis Afghan said: “There were too many people gathered in the one place to watch the game. Dozens of others are wounded and we have reports that many of them are in critical condition.”The Taliban have stepped up attacks on both Western and Afghan targets across the country this year.The agreements with Nato and the US still need to be ratified by the Afghan upper house.