Suicide attack kills 3 Afghans; 30 Taliban killed in clash (Roundup)

May 29, 2008, 14:43 GMT

Kabul - A suicide attack killed at least three civilians and wounded seven in Kabul on Thursday while the Afghan army claimed to have killed at least 30 Taliban insurgents in the west of the country.

The bomber detonated a vehicle packed with explosives near a military patrol in the east of the capital, damaging shops and homes, Alishah Paktiawal, police chief in charge of the investigation, said.

Spokesmen for the NATO-led International Security Assistance Froces (ISAF) said four soldiers were slightly wounded and two of their vehicles were damaged.

Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid claimed nine US soldiers were killed in the blast, which he said was carried out by a man named Maulavi Zabair Ahmad.

Witness Mohammad Karim said he saw ISAF troops evacuating wounded US soldiers from the scene on Jalalabad Road, an area where several military camps are located.

Taliban militants, whose regime was toppled in a US military invasion in late 2001, rely heavily on the use of suicide attacks.

Meanwhile, an Afghan army commander in western Afghanistan claimed government forces supported by NATO warplanes killed at least 30 Taliban militants in an encounter that left three Afghan troops dead.

The clash took place in Bala Bulok district of south-western Farah province on Wednesday when Afghan army and police conducted an operation after learning rebels were in the area.

Western region army commander Jalander Shah Behnam said the Afghans called in ISAF air support after suffering casualties.

'Thirty Taliban, including their commanders and foreign fighters, were killed in the clash and air bombing,' the army commander said.

Mullah Noor Ali, Mullah Baaz Mohammad, Mullah Murad Uruzgani, Mullah Salam and Mullah Toor Helmandi, the Taliban commander were among those, who were killed in aerial bombing, the defence ministry said in a statement.

The US military said in a separate statement that their forces, along with Afghan security forces, killed several other Taliban militants in the Sangin district of southern Helmand province.

In another incident, Taliban militants torched more than 20 trucks carrying supplies for the US military in Paktika province on Wednesday night, Ghamai Mohammadyar, spokesman for provincial governor said.

The attack also killed a truck driver and wounded three others, Mohammadyar said, adding that Afghan and US forces who arrived at the scene killed three insurgents in a firefight.

Violence is on the rise in Afghanistan despite the presence of around 70,000 international troops and more than 160,000 Afghan security personnel. Around 1,500 people, most of them insurgents - have been killed this year.