The Latest: Attack on NATO convoy in Afghanistan kills 2, wounds 26

By The Associated Press

KABUL – The latest news on a suicide attack in the Afghan capital targeting a NATO convoy on the Kabul airport road, near the U.S. Embassy.

7:27 p.m. (1500 GMT)

A Taliban suicide attack targeting a NATO convoy in Afghanistan has killed two people and wounded 26, including two U.S. soldiers.

Interior Ministry spokesman Sediq Sediqqi confirmed the number of casualties from Tuesday’s attack in the capital, Kabul, updating an earlier toll.

A suicide bomber plowed an explosives-laden vehicle into the convoy, badly damaging two armoured vehicles, sending a black plume of smoke into the sky and scattering glass and metal across the main highway leading to the airport.

A spokeswoman for NATO’s Resolute Support mission in Afghanistan, U.S. Army Capt. Susan Harrington, said two American soldiers sustained minor injuries in the attack.

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5:30 p.m. (1300 GMT)

Afghanistan has signed an extension to a long-running U.N. police support program that will transfer some $900 million to the government over the next 18 months.

The agreement with the U.N. Development Program was signed Tuesday, as the Taliban carried out a suicide bombing on a NATO convoy in Kabul that killed an Afghan civilian, wounded 24 others and wounded two U.S. soldiers.

The program, set up in 2002, has been plagued by accusations of waste and corruption. The Interior Ministry’s spokesman, Najib Danish, says Tuesday’s deal sets benchmarks for reviews every six months.

The UNDP says the fund will channel approximately $843 million to pay the salaries of more than 150,000 police officers, and $38 million for broader security and justice reform.

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4:55 p.m. (1225 GMT)

The number of Afghan civilians wounded in the Taliban suicide bombing that targeted a NATO convoy in Kabul has climbed further. Two American soldiers were also wounded in the attack and one Afghan civilian was killed.

Kabir Amiri, chief of Kabul’s hospitals for the Ministry of Public Health, says the number of civilians wounded in blast has risen to 24.

Earlier, NATO said two alliance troops were also wounded. A spokeswoman for NATO’s Resolute Support mission in Afghanistan, U.S. Army Capt. Susan Harrington confirmed that two American soldiers were wounded in the attack.

She says they sustained minor injuries.

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4:22 p.m. (1152 GMT)

The NATO mission in Afghanistan says two of its service members have been wounded in Tuesday’s suicide attack in Kabul that targeted the alliance.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack, which killed one Afghan civilian and also wounded 22.

NATO spokeswoman Capt. Susan Harrington says the two coalition troops suffered “minor injuries as a result of this attack.”

She did not reveal the nationalities of the wounded soldiers. She says all NATO personnel and vehicles had been recovered from the blast site.

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3:40 p.m. (1110 GMT)

An Afghan health official has raised the number of wounded in the Taliban suicide attack on a NATO convoy.

Afghan Ministry of Interior spokesman Sediq Sediqqi says the number of wounded in the bombing has climbed to 22.

One person was also reported to have died in the attack.

The area where the blast took place is a popular market district. It is also close to the Supreme Court and a military base.

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3:05 p.m. (1035 GMT)

The Taliban have claimed responsibility for the suicide bombing that targeted a NATO convoy in Kabul on Tuesday.

The claim came in a text message sent to The Associated Press.

Interior Ministry spokesman Sediq Sediqqi says one civilian was killed in the attack, which also wounded 19 people.

The attack took place less than a kilometre (half mile) from the US Embassy.

It comes as insurgents intensify their spring offensive, which was launched in April.

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2:30 p.m. (1000 GMT)

The chief health official for Kabul hospitals says 19 people have been wounded in the suicide blast in Kabul.

Kabir Amiri says the wounded include four children and three women.

The attack took place near the U.S. Embassy, during early afternoon prayers. Embassy spokeswoman Heather Easton said all embassy personnel were accounted for.

NATO spokesman US Army Col. Brian Tribus says “no coalition casualties were caused by the attack.”

An eyewitness, Ahmad Farhad, says he saw a car ram into “the convoy of foreign forces.” He says vehicles were damaged and there were wounded everywhere, with “no one to help them.”

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