Afghanistan: Three NATO troops dead in Kabul suicide attack

KABUL, Afghanistan--Three international service members were killed Friday and at least seven civilians were wounded in a suicide car bomb attack in eastern Kabul, authorities said.

In an email sent to journalists, the Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack.

According to the International Security Assistance Force, the name given to the U.S.-led NATO forces in Afghanistan, the three died when the vehicle exploded nearby. Their names and nationalities were not immediately available.

Hashmat Stanikzai, a spokesman for Kabul police, confirmed the account and provided some additional details.

“Today at around 1:00 p.m. a suicide car bomber using a Toyota Corolla targeted a foreign military convoy in Kabul’s 9th precinct, wounded more than seven civilians and destroyed a foreign military vehicle,” Stanikzai said.

The attack took place while the convoy was passing an area about a half mile from Camp Phoenix, a NATO base.

Many armored vehicles and police vehicles stopped nearby, and the area was cordoned off by the joint forces. Remains of the detonated car bomb covered the road where the incident took place.

Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid emailed the statement claiming responsibility, and claiming far greater casualties. The Taliban commonly exaggerates the effect of its attacks.

“The martyr attack on foreigner’s convoy in Kabul’s police District 9, near to an invaders guest house [Camp Phoenix] killed 12 Americans and wounded many more,” the Taliban statement said.

So far this year 151 coalition troops have been killed in Afghanistan, according to a tally kept by the Associated Press.