Thread: Kabul suicide car bombing 'kills at least 19'

Kabul suicide car bombing 'kills at least 19'

A suicide car bomb that targeted a Nato convoy in the Afghan capital, Kabul, has killed at least 19 people, including six foreign troops.

The Taliban has claimed responsibility for the rush hour attack in the west of the city, where parliament and other government buildings are located.

More than 50 people - mostly Afghan civilians - were hurt in the explosion.

It is the deadliest attack on foreign forces in the heavily-guarded capital since a Taliban assault last September.

Despite tight security, the suicide bomber managed to drive into the city with a car laden with explosives.

RECENT KABUL ATTACKS
26 Feb 2010: Explosions and gunfire in an area popular with foreigners leave 17 dead
18 Jan 2010: Taliban attack government targets and shopping centres, killing 12
15 Dec 09: Six killed in suicide attack near hotel in Wazir Akbar Khan district
24 Oct 09: Six UN staff and three Afghans killed in attack on UN guesthouse
8 Oct 09: Suicide bomber attacks Indian embassy, killing at least 17
17 Sept 09: Six Italian soldiers and 10 Afghans die in military convoy blast
18 Aug 09: Suicide blast kills 10 in attack on Western troop convoy


The Isaf (Nato-led) convoy was attacked on the Darulaman road. An Isaf spokesman confirmed that six of its soldiers were killed and several wounded.

Spokesman Brig Gen Josef Blotz condemned the "desperate brutality", and said the "aggression reminds us of the pessimism of an enemy who seek to kill the innocent and to stop the progress necessary for a better Afghanistan."

Five military vehicles were damaged and more than a dozen civilian vehicles, including a bus, were also caught in the blast.

The BBC's Mark Dummett in Kabul says that, as is often the case in such attacks, Afghan civilians seem to have borne the brunt of the explosion.

Eyewitness Obiadullah Saddiqyar was on his way into work when the bomb detonated. He described the scene as "totally chaotic".

He told the BBC: "I witnessed the bomb this morning at around 0815. I saw many people dead and many injured who were taken to hospital.

"Among the dead there were lots of women and girls - I heard later that they were students going to university. I also saw one of my colleagues full of blood in the back of a police car, also being taken to hospital," he said.

"This situation really made me cry for the bloodshed and the innocent people who were killed and injured."

Isaf said it was assisting the Afghan security force with its investigation.

The Afghan police have set up extra checkpoints throughout the city this year, following a series of attacks by gunmen and bombers on government offices and hotels, our correspondent says.

But it is impossible to stop and search every car that enters the city, so these attacks seem certain to continue, he says.

Major offensive

Afghan President Hamid Karzai described the attack as "heartbreaking".

"We are condemning the attack in the strongest terms. I hope Afghanistan will soon get out of this suffering, God willing," he said at a news conference broadcast on national television.

President Karzai has recently returned from a trip to Washington where he hoped to gather support for his policy of reconciliation with certain elements of the Taliban.

Afghan officials are also preparing for a "jirga", or a grand council, of tribal leaders, during which ways to promote peace in Afghanistan will be discussed.

Meanwhile a military offensive in the southern province of Kandahar, a key Taliban stronghold, is being planned.

Earlier this year Nato and Afghan forces launched a major offensive against militants entrenched in neighbouring Helmand province and security forces are still engaged in operations around Helmand.

Nato and the US have deployed thousands of extra troops in Afghanistan, where numbers are expected to peak at 150,000 in August under a strategy designed to bring a swift end to the long-running insurgency.

BBC News - Kabul suicide car bombing 'kills at least 19'