Blast Kills Afghan Girl, Hurts 3 NATO Soldiers

A suicide attacker posing as a beggar wounded three soldiers from the NATO-led peacekeeping force and killed an Afghan girl Saturday on a street popular with Western souvenir shoppers.

Kabul police chief Baba Jan said in an interview this morning that no foreigners had died in the incident. Col. Patrick Poulain, spokesman for the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force, or ISAF, denied local reports Saturday that a foreign soldier had been killed.

But Associated Press reported that Jamie Michalsky, 23, who had served in Afghanistan with the Army Reserve until late last year, was killed in the attack. Her stepfather said she worked for Worldwide Language Resources.

On Saturday afternoon, three NATO soldiers in military uniforms were apparently on a shopping trip on Chicken Street when the bomber walked toward their vehicle and detonated at least three of six grenades in his possession, police and witnesses said.

One of the soldiers was seriously injured, Poulain said.

The Afghan girl was among three selling magazines on the street, witnesses said. At least two shopkeepers were also among the injured.

The attacker, who seemed to be walking on a false leg, detonated the grenades strapped to his waist as the NATO soldiers passed a carpet shop, witnesses said. ISAF officials did not immediately identify the nationalities of the wounded troops.

Aimal Khan, a teenager whose family owns the carpet shop, was wounded in the arm and leg.

“There were two ISAF vehicles on the street when the explosions happened,” he said. “There were some magazine-selling girls, who were small and standing around the cars, and this stupid disabled man exploded himself.”

Chicken Street is frequented by Westerners, including soldiers and aid workers, who come to browse for carpets, antiques, gems and other souvenirs.

Khan’s older brother, Masoud, said he saw four or five wounded Afghans. Norwegian and British soldiers took up guard positions at the bombing scene after the attack.

The NATO-led peacekeeping force has been on the lookout for suicide bombers for weeks because intelligence reports said attackers were plotting spectacular assaults around the time of the nation’s landmark Oct. 9 presidential elections.

On election day, Afghan soldiers, police and foreign troops carried out a massive security operation, and the voting was mainly peaceful. When security restrictions eased, attacks escalated again.

The suicide attack occurred as the ballot count neared completion. With 81% of ballots counted by Saturday night, interim President Hamid Karzai was leading with almost 55% of the vote. His closest rival, Younis Qanooni, had 11%.