A suicide car bomb exploded near international troops in the Afghan capital Saturday, leaving one wounded, while soldiers killed more than a dozen militants in clashes elsewhere, authorities said. The Taliban insurgent movement said it had carried out the bombing - the latest in Kabul in a surge of unrest linked to an insurgency led by the militia that was in government between 1996 and 2001.
A suicide attacker blew up a bomb-filled vehicle in the west of Kabul, city police chief Mohammad Ayoub Salangi told AFP. "There was a suicide bombing against international forces... Thank God there were no casualties. The bomber died and the vehicle is in pieces," he said.
Nato's International Security Assistance Force confirmed an improvised explosive device had blown up near a convoy and said it had one soldier wounded. It would not give the nationality of the affected troops. Kabul has seen several deadly attacks this year by militants from the Taliban or other radical outfits trying to drive out the nearly 70,000 international troops helping the Afghan security forces.
The defence ministry said meanwhile that more than 10 militants were killed in battles in the southern province of Helmand that erupted after insurgents attacked an Afghan army patrol. About 14 other militants were detained in other operations by Afghan troops in the eastern province of Khost near the border with Pakistan, it said in a statement.
The US-led coalition said separately its soldiers, working with Afghan troops, had killed "several" militants after coming under attack in Kapisa, an area near Kabul where insurgent activity has increased in recent months. Air strikes were called in against a rebel compound after civilians were cleared from the area, the force said in a statement. The coalition was accused of killing around 90 civilians in strikes in the western province of Herat a week ago but disputes the number, insisting that five civilians died.