13 US soldiers, 4 Afghans killed in Kabul suicide attack

By Subel Bhandari Oct 29, 2011, 16:08 GMT

Kabul - Thirteen US soldiers and four Afghans were killed Saturday in a suicide bombing in Kabul, the worst-ever such attack in the Afghan capital, officials said.

A suicide bomber rammed his vehicle into a military convoy, in an attack for which the Taliban claimed responsibility. The Afghan victims included two students, the Interior Ministry said.

A NATO official said four foreign soldiers were injured. Among the eight Afghans wounded were two children.

A dpa reporter at the site said three helicopters carried away the bodies of the US soldiers. Plumes of dark smoke were visible for kilometres away in the western part of capital, a few hundred metres away from the Russian embassy and American University premises.

Afghans are responsible for security in Kabul. After the bombing, international forces, mainly US soldiers, sealed off the area and would not allow even Afghan security forces to the site.

US General John Allen, commander of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), said he was 'saddened and outraged' by the attacks.

'The enemies of peace are not martyrs, but murderers. To hide the fact that they are losing territory, support, and the will to fight, (they continue) to employ suicide attackers to kill innocent Afghan fathers, mothers, sons and daughters,' he said in a statement.

German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle and Hamid Karzai condemned the attack, with the Afghan president calling the Taliban 'enemies of peace and stability.'

This was the deadliest attack for US troops in Kabul. In August, a Taliban rocket downed a helicopter killing 30 US special forces in central Wardak province.

Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said, 'Abdul Rahman from Helmand was the suicide bomber responsible for today's (Saturday's) attack. He was driving a car that carried 700 kilograms of explosives.'

In September, Taliban insurgents held the capital hostage for more than 20 hours as they launched a coordinated attack on the US embassy and NATO headquarters.

A week later, a former Afghan president and head of a council that was attempting to broker a peace deal with the Taliban was killed in his house.

Earlier Saturday, Afghan, US and NATO officials said in Kabul that Karzai would announce a list of areas where security responsibilities would be handed over from NATO to Afghan forces. US and NATO allies have said they will stop all combat missions by 2014.

Meanwhile, three Australian soldiers and one Afghan translator were killed by an Afghan army trainee in the southern province of Uruzgan, an official said.

Five other foreign soldiers were injured, Afghan army commander Abdul Hamid said. The assailant was also killed.