Print

Mail

wiki links

Suicide bomber targets NATO-led soldiers in Kabul

A suicide bomber blew himself up next to NATO-led troops in southern Afghanistan, wounding one Australian soldier, while a British soldier was killed fighting militants, officials said.

A remote-control bomb also hit an Afghan army bus in Kabul on Thursday, killing the driver and wounding 29 people, including 22 soldiers, officials said.

The suicide attack happened 4km northeast of Camp Holland, the main Dutch base in southern Uruzgan Province, and appeared to target Australian reconstruction workers, said Lieutenant Colonel Robin Middel, a Dutch Defense Ministry spokesman.

The suicide bomber was killed and one Australian soldier was "very slightly wounded" along with two Afghans who also received only light injuries, Middel said.

A purported Taliban spokesman, Qari Yousef Ahmadi, claimed responsibility for the attack, but his claim could not be independently verified.

A British soldier, meanwhile, was killed in southern Afghanistan Thursday, Britain's defense ministry said.

The soldier, who was not named, was killed by small arms fire while manning a checkpoint near the town of Garmsir in Helmand Province, the ministry said in a statement. The soldier was air lifted for medical help, but could not be saved.

NATO's International Security Assistance Force said earlier the coalition soldier died "during an engagement with enemy fighters" in the region.

"This tragic loss will be felt right across the multinational task force," said NATO's regional commander Major General Jacko Page.

In the army bus attack, the bomb was placed in a cart on the side of the road and exploded when the vehicle passed by, said Ali Riza, an Afghan National Army officer at the scene.

The driver of the bus was killed and 22 soldiers were wounded, said General Mohammad Zahir Azimi, a defense ministry spokesman.
This story has been viewed 1234 times.