Suicide Bomber Attacks Convoy in Kabul

06/28/2007

Associated Press | June 28, 2007


KABUL, Afghanistan - A suicide car bomber hit a convoy of security contractors in the Afghan capital Thursday, killing two foreigners, including an American, and wounding three others, police officers said. The Taliban claimed responsibility.

The blast in eastern Kabul killed an American and a Nepalese contractor in addition to the bomber, said Gen. Ali Shah Paktiawal, head of criminal investigations for Kabul police. Three other American contractors were wounded, he said.

The bomber also wounded two Afghan civilians in the attack, said Najibullah Samsur, a local police chief.

The blast destroyed one vehicle, which was flung to the side of the road.

Zabiullah Mujaheed, a purported Taliban spokesman, said the militant group was behind the blast, which was set off by a 27-year-old Afghan man named Faizullah from the city of Jalalabad.

"There were two foreigner vehicles that passed near my shop and a third private vehicle hit them, causing the explosion," said Ahmad Shah, whose shop is close to the blast site. He said the attacker's vehicle and two of the contractors' vehicles caught fire after the explosion.

The foreigners from one of the vehicles that was lightly damaged fired their guns into the air to prevent civilians from approaching, Shah said.

Elsewhere, Taliban militants released 17 Afghan deminers kidnapped last week in Ghazni province, said Kazim Alayar, the province's deputy governor. Seven were released on Wednesday and 10 on Thursday, he said.

The men disappeared last Friday in Ghazni's Andar district. They were freed with the help of the local elders, Alayar said.

Afghanistan is one of the world's most heavily mined countries following three decades of war, and the U.N. and other aid groups are working all over the country to clear old minefields.