Bomber strikes NATO convoy near Kabul

NATO troops, Afghans among casualties

The Associated Press
A U.S. soldier reacts at the site of Saturday's suicide car bombing. A U.S. soldier reacts at the site of Saturday's suicide car bombing. (Muhammed Muheisen/Associated Press)

A suicide car bomber struck a NATO convoy on the outskirts of Kabul on Saturday, causing casualties among the NATO service members and Afghan civilians, the U.S.-led coalition said.
Afghan officials said three civilians and one policeman were killed.
An Associated Press reporter on the scene said that NATO and Afghan forces had sealed off the area.
Two NATO helicopters landed to airlift casualties.
The back end of a NATO bus appeared to have been blown apart and was turned into a charred shell.
"A suicide bomber car targeted a convoy of coalition forces, there are casualties among civilians and coalition troops," said Kabul's police chief, General Mohammad Ayub Salangi, at the scene.
The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack, which occurred near Darulaman Palace, the bombed-out seat of former Afghan kings on the southwest outskirts of the capital.
The attack occurred near Darulaman Palace, the bombed-out seat of former Afghan kings on the southwest outskirts of Kabul. Here, Afghans play football in front of the destroyed Darulaman Palace in this 2008 file photo.The attack occurred near Darulaman Palace, the bombed-out seat of former Afghan kings on the southwest outskirts of Kabul. Here, Afghans play football in front of the destroyed Darulaman Palace in this 2008 file photo. Farzana Wahidy/Associated PressThe Taliban claim came shortly after the attack in a text message to media outlets.
It was the deadliest of two attacks in the day that targeted either the U.S.-led coalition or Afghan government offices in the country.
Earlier Saturday, a female suicide bomber blew herself up as she tried to attack a local government office in the capital of Kunar province, a hotbed of militancy in northeast Afghanistan along the Pakistan border.
Abdul Sabor Allayar, deputy provincial police chief, said the guards outside the government's intelligence office in Asad Abad became suspicious of the woman and started shooting, at which point she detonated her explosives.
There were no other casualties in that attack.
Afghan and U.S.-led coalition forces conducted operations earlier this month, killing more than 100 insurgents in an effort to curb violence in rugged areas of Kunar where the coalition and Afghan government have a light footprint.
Farther south along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border, Afghan and coalition forces captured two leaders of the Haqqani network and two other suspected insurgents in Sarobi district of Paktika province, the coalition said.
Haqqani fighters, who are affiliated with the Taliban and al-Qaeda, are heavily rooted in Paktika and neighbouring Paktia and Khost provinces.
One of the captured leaders provided insurgent fighters with funding, weapons, supplies and hideouts, and the other coordinated attacks against Afghan forces, the coalition said.