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Kabul blast targets foreign troop convoy UK military convoy targeted in Afghanistan blast
(about 5 hours later)
Casualties were reported after a suicide car bomber targeted a convoy of foreign troops in the Afghan capital during rush hour-traffic on Sunday, flipping an armoured vehicle on its side. A British military convoy has been attacked while on patrol in Kabul, the Ministry of Defence in London has said.
Taliban insurgents claimed responsibility for the attack in the city centre, which broke a period of relative calm in Kabul after a series of bombings in August. The explosion in the crowded centre of the Afghan capital on Sunday is reported to have injured at least three civilians, including a woman and a child.
An armoured vehicle lay on its side as Afghan security forces cordoned off the street in the Joi Sheer neighbourhood. There were no British casualties in the blast, which the MoD said was caused by an improvised explosive device. The Afghan interior ministry blamed a suicide car bomber.
An armoured vehicle was overturned in the attack, for which the Taliban claimed responsibility. Charred metal littered the area, according to reports.
Related: Kunduz: Pentagon to pay compensation over Afghan hospital bombingRelated: Kunduz: Pentagon to pay compensation over Afghan hospital bombing
“It was a suicide bombing against a foreign forces convoy in a crowded part of the city and there are casualties,” said Najib Danish, a spokesman for the interior ministry. The MoD said: “We can confirm that at approximately 9.10 this morning a convoy of UK military vehicles on a routine road move as part of the Nato resolute support mission was struck by an improvised explosive device. There were no UK casualties.”
Danish did not specify whether there were casualties among the foreign forces. A spokesman for the US-led mission said no casualties among the convoy’s participants had been reported.
The headquarters of the international Resolute Support Mission in Kabul did not immediately confirm details of the attack, but a spokesman said it was verifying reports. The Afghan interior ministry told Agence France-Presse: “The incident took place while a suicide car bomber detonated an explosive-packed car in the Joy Shir area of Kabul city. The target of the attacker were the foreign forces convoy.”
The Taliban said there were casualties but it typically exaggerates details of attacks. Officials added: “The ministry of interior condemns in the strongest terms the suicide attack which resulted in the wounding of three civilians.”
The blast came during a period of heightened tension following intense fighting between government troops and the Taliban around the northern city of Kunduz, which fell briefly to the insurgent Islamist movement at the end of September. The blast came as fighting continues between government troops and the Taliban around the northern city of Kunduz, which fell briefly to the insurgent Islamist movement at the end of September.
Fighting between government forces and the Taliban continues on the outskirts of Kunduz. The Pentagon in Washington has announced it will pay compensation to families of those killed and injured by US airstrikes which struck a hospital run by Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors without Borders).