Suicide bombers hit Afghanistan

At least four civilians are killed and several wounded in two separate attacks.

Afghanistan bombing — The bomber detonated his explosives as a convoy was approaching in a busy residential area [AFP]

A spokesman for the Nato-led International Security Assistance Force (Isaf) said: “Right now we think it may have been a private convoy of private contractors.”

He said that Isaf troops might have been attached to the convoy to provide security. One soldier could have been among the casualties but he could not confirm this yet, he added.

Firing

Following the attack, foreign soldiers shot dead a civilian and wounded three more, police said.

It was not clear why the US soldiers had fired on the crowd that gathered at the site of the suicide car bombing.

Zalmai Oriakhil, Kabul deputy police chief, said the shooting led hundreds of people to mob soldiers before Afghan elders and police intervened.

Nato and the US-led coalition could not confirm the shooting.

The bomber, who died in the attack, planted the explosives in a taxi, the Afghan interior ministry said in a statement.

“I was driving. The car just behind me exploded. It was a terrible explosion,” one witness said.

Isaf troops are facing increasing
attacks in Afghanistan[AFP]

“An Isaf convoy was coming from the opposite direction. An Isaf vehicle was on fire but drove away,” he added.

The attack was the fifth suicide bombing in the capital this year but there have been several others around the country, mainly in the south and east.

Second attack

The attack in Mazar-i-Sharif targeting a US military convoy came hours after the blast in Kabul.

It missed the US convoy, which sped off, said Abdul Rauf Taj, the provincial head of security and police.

“One person was killed and six injured,” he said. The casualties were all civilians and the wounded included a woman and a child, Taj said.

Source: News Agencies