Kabul: At least 12 people including three NATO contractors were killed and 60 injured when a suicide car bomber struck a foreign forces convoy, officials said on Saturday, underlining the precarious security situation in the Afghan capital.
The Pajhwok Afghan News tweeted some pictures of the deadly attack which rocked he city.
Kabul suicide bombing. Photos by Salis Karokhil pic.twitter.com/T3Idqol5lx
— Pajhwok Afghan News (@pajhwok) August 22, 2015
A school vehicle damaged in Kabul suicide attack and an injured women. #Afghanistan pic.twitter.com/3dgaAsFBIA
— Pajhwok Afghan News (@pajhwok) August 22, 2015
As per media reports, no group immediately claimed responsibility for the blast, which struck outside a civilian hospital in Kabul following a wave of fatal bombings earlier this month that rattled the city.
The piercing explosion in a residential Kabul neighbourhood reverberated around the city and left a trail of devastation.
Meanwhile, health ministry spokesman Wahidullah Mayar tweeted, "A foreigner was among 12 people killed in the blast, with 66 others -- including women and children -- wounded."
#12 dead including a foreigner and a woman, and 66 injured including 6 women and 5 children in today's suicide attack in Macrorayan, Kabul.
— Wahidullah Mayar (@WahidullahMayar) August 22, 2015
He did not give the nationality of the foreigner.
Senior health official Sayed Kabir Amiri confirmed that toll from the attack, which comes as Taliban insurgents escalate their annual summer offensive against the US-backed Afghan government.
"One Resolute Support (NATO) contracted civilian was killed in the attack and two others died of wounds as a result of the attack," NATO said in a statement, without specifying their nationalities.
Fraidoon Obaidi, the head of Kabul`s Criminal Investigation Department, said officials were investigating the bombing.
The loud explosion prompted the heavily-fortified US embassy, located a few kilometres (miles) away in the centre of Kabul, to sound its emergency sirens and a "duck and cover" alarm warning.
US-led NATO forces ended their combat mission in Afghanistan in December last year, although a 13,000-strong residual force remains for training and counter-terrorism operations.
Saturday`s blast comes amid heightened security in Kabul after a wave of bombings earlier this month that killed more than 50 people and wounded hundreds, prompting fury from President Ashraf Ghani who blamed Pakistan for failing to rein in Taliban insurgents.
The Taliban are stepping up their summer offensive, launched in late April, amid a bitter leadership dispute following the announcement of the death of longtime leader Mullah Omar.
Mullah Akhtar Mansour, Omar`s longtime trusted deputy, was named as the new Taliban chief in late July in an acrimonious power transition.
Al Qaeda chief Ayman al-Zawahiri recently pledged his group`s allegiance to Mansour, in a move which could bolster his accession amid the growing infighting within the Afghan militant movement.
The latest wave of deadly violence underscores Afghanistan`s volatile security situation amid a faltering peace process.
The first face-to-face talks between the Afghan government and the Taliban took place last month in the Pakistani hill town of Murree, aimed at ending the 14-year insurgency.
The Taliban distanced themselves from a second round of talks that were scheduled for the end of July after the announcement of Omar`s death.
(With Agency inputs)
