Afghan bomb wounds two Australian journalists

APRIL 29, 2008
Posted May 5, 2008

Paul Rafael,
Steve Dupont,
Smithsonian Magazine
ATTACKED

Rafael, a freelance writer, and photographer Dupont, both from Australia, were on assignment for the U.S.-based Smithsonian Magazine when a suicide bomber detonated a bomb a few meters from where they stood as part of a crowd in a small eastern town around 31 miles (50 kilometers) outside Jalalabad, Afghanistan, according to Carey Winfrey, the magazine’s editor.

Dupont’s wounds were superficial, and Rafael was moved to the U.S. Air Force hospital at Bagram for treatment of injuries that were not life-threatening, Winfrey said.

The blast targeted counter-narcotics police, and left a total of 18 dead and 36 wounded, including the journalists, according to The Associated Press, who cited Afghanistan’s Interior Ministry. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack, the AP said.