Afghan bombers target Nato forces

At least three people, including one German soldier from the Nato-led peacekeepers, have been killed in two car bomb attacks by Taliban fighters in the Afghan capital, officials and witnesses say.

A bomber rammed his car into an ISAF vehicle

In the first attack on Monday, a man rammed his car into a patrol vehicle belonging to the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) killing the soldier and himself.

“It was a suicide attack,” Mohammad Akbar, a senior commander for the area, told Reuters. “One ISAF soldier has been killed, two other ISAF along with three civilians have been wounded.”

Civilians killed

General Mahboub Amiri, chief of the capital’s rapid reaction police force, said the ISAF casualties were all German, but a spokesman for the peacekeeping force confirmed the casualties, but not the nationalities.

Shortly afterwards, a second car blast killed two civilians 3km down the same road, witnesses said, adding that they heard a small explosion and gunfire a little later.

ISAF forces have been targeted by bombers before 
ISAF forces have been targeted by bombers before 

ISAF forces have been targeted
by bombers before 

A police office said this was also a bomb attack, and added that another two peacekeepers had been wounded. Witnesses said three civilians, including a small child, had been hurt.

Abdul Samad, a Taliban spokesman, telephoned Reuters soon after the first car bomb to claim responsibility.

Both attacks took place on Jalalabad Road, the main road
out of Kabul to the east. Several ISAF contingents have bases along the road.

Target

The peacekeeping force, stationed in Kabul since US-led forces overthrew the Taliban government in 2001, has been hit by bombers before.

Four German soldiers were killed and more than 30 wounded in the worst such attack in 2003.

Two months ago, on the same road, a car bomber killed more than a dozen people, most of them Afghan army officers.

Source: Reuters