This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/may/16/taliban-suicide-bomber-nato-convoy-afghanistan

The article has changed 8 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 2 Version 3
Nato troops killed in Taliban suicide blast in Afghanistan Taliban suicide blast in Afghanistan 'targeted Nato advisers'
(about 2 hours later)
A suicide bomber drove his explosives-packed Toyota Corolla into armoured SUVs carrying Nato troops and civilians through Kabul, killing six passengers and nine Afghan civilian passersby, two of them children. A suicide bomber has slammed his explosives-packed Toyota Corolla into two armoured cars carrying US troops and civilians through Kabul, killing six of the people inside the vehicles and nine Afghan civilian passersby.
The attack was the deadliest in Kabul this year, ripping through morning traffic in the western side of the Afghan capital at the peak of the morning rush hour. Two schoolchildren were among the dead, and another 39 people were injured when the blast ripped through Thursday morning traffic at the peak of the rush hour, sending shrapnel slicing through dozens of ordinary cars packed with people heading to work or studies.
The blast was so loud it echoed across the city, and a huge plume of smoke rose from the debris as helicopters, US military vehicles and Afghan security services rushed to the site. Two Nato troops and four contractors were killed in the attack. The explosion was powerful enough to be heard kilometres away on the other side of the city, and sent a thick column of white smoke into the air.
"Around 8 o'clock this morning two vehicles belonging to foreign advisers were bombed by a Corolla. They were badly damaged, along with 10 civilian cars, and another 20 vehicles in the area were lightly damaged," said the Kabul police chief, Ayoub Salangi. "Around 8 o'clock this morning, two vehicles belonging to foreign advisers were bombed by a Corolla. They were badly damaged, along with 10 civilian cars, and another 20 vehicles in the area were lightly damaged," said Kabul police chief Ayoub Salangi.
The remains of one of the Nato vehicles, so twisted and lacerated it would have been impossible for anyone inside to survive, was still lying at the site of the attack when journalists were given permission to approach the scene several hours after the blast. The attack, near a stadium where the Taliban once carried out public executions, was the deadliest in Kabul this year. A suicide bomber last struck just over two months ago, killing nine Afghan civilians outside the defence ministry during a visit by the US defence secretary, Chuck Hagel.
The bodies of Afghan victims were so badly burned they could not be identified, said Qabir Amiri, spokesman for the city's hospitals. The toll continued to mount through the day. Since then Afghan security forces say they have foiled a string of plots to attack the capital, including finding an eight-tonne truck bomb on the outskirts of Kabul. But Thursday's bloodshed, in an area near the heart of the city and its heavily militarised diplomatic and government core, is a reminder of the insurgency's reach.
"There were nine [Afghan] civilians killed, two of them children. Another 39 civilians were injured," said a health ministry spokesman, Dr Kanishka Turistani, in the early afternoon. The attack was claimed by a Taliban-linked group headed by Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, a former mujahideen commander who once received US funding to fight Soviet forces. A spokesman for Hizb-e-Islami, Haroon Zarghoon, said a newly formed suicide squad had attacked American advisers working in the city, after watching them for days.
A Taliban-linked group, led by the former Mujahideen warlord Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, claimed responsibility for the attack. A spokesman for Hizb-e-Islami, Haroon Zarghoon, said the group had attacked "American advisers" working in the city. "The cell had been monitoring the movement and timing of the American convoy for a week and implemented the plan Thursday morning," Zarghoon told the Associated Press. About eight months ago the group killed 12 people in a suicide attack on a minibus carrying foreign pilots to Kabul airport.
Additional reporting by Mokhtar Amiri. The US military confirmed that two of its soldiers were killed in Thursday's blast. The Nato-led coalition said four civilians it employed also died, but declined to comment on whether there were any injured survivors.
The remains of one of their vehicles was still at the site several hours after the blast, tonnes of reinforced steel so twisted and lacerated it would have been impossible for anyone inside to escape. However, it was not clear what happened to the second vehicle, which must have carried at least one of the dead as SUVs cannot usually fit more than five people.
The bomber used a model of car so ubiquitous in Kabul that street vendors sell windscreen wipers and other spare parts at junctions. He would have been almost impossible to pick out from the morning crowds in a part of the city where few foreigners travel regularly.
By contrast the armoured vehicles used by most diplomats and military officers, as well as senior Afghan officials, stick out as sleek, heavy targets in the city's swarms of mostly battered vehicles. Many remove their number plates or boast illegal blacked out windows to try and conceal the high-profile passengers inside.
President Hamid Karzai condemned the attack as a "cowardly act of terror … [that]brutally targeted a residential area", but did not directly denounce Hizb-e-Islami. Karzai, who is pushing hard for peace talks and has reached out to the Taliban as errant "brothers", ascribed the attack only to "enemies who don't want to see the Afghan Muslim nation live in peace".
The top US and Nato commander in Afghanistan, General Joseph Dunford, described the bombing as "desperate and indiscriminate", but denied it was a sign of Taliban strength.
"While today's attack shows the insurgents remain dangerous, they are not a threat to the Afghan government and its forces," he added.
Additional reporting by Mokhtar Amiri
Our editors' picks for the day's top news and commentary delivered to your inbox each morning.Our editors' picks for the day's top news and commentary delivered to your inbox each morning.
Our editors' picks for the day's top news and commentary delivered to your inbox each morning. Enter your email address to subscribe.Our editors' picks for the day's top news and commentary delivered to your inbox each morning. Enter your email address to subscribe.