SUICIDE CAR BOMBER RAMS NATO CONVOY IN AFGHANISTAN

Police officers told Al Jazeera that an armoured vehicle carrying non-uniformed international advisers was targeted (AFP)

Kabul, 20 Ramadan 1436/7 July 2015 (MINA) – A suicide car bomber has rammed a convoy belonging to foreign forces in Afghanistan, the country’s interior spokesman said.

Officials told Al Jazeera that at least three Afghan civilians were wounded in Tuesday’s attack in the Shah Shaheed area of eastern Kabul, spokesman Sediq Sediqqi said.

Al Jazeera’s Jennifer Glasse, reporting from Kabul, said the attack, which was claimed by the Taliban, took place a few kilometres east of the centre of the city, and plumes of smoke could be seen after the attack.

“Police told us that the target was a convoy, a car carrying international advisers who were not in military uniform, an armoured car,” Glasse said.

The attack follows a car bomb attack on NATO soldiers last week, which killed two Afghan civilians and injured 26 others, including women and children.

NATO said none of its troops were killed or injured in last week’s attack, which was also claimed by the Taliban.

A fortnight earlier, the armed group launched an attack on Afghanistan’s parliament, leaving five people dead and losing seven of its own members.

The Taliban launched its annual spring offensive in April.

A surge in attacks has taken a heavy toll on civilians, according to the UN Assistance Mission to Afghanistan.

In the first four months of 2015, civilian casualties jumped 16 percent from the same period last year, it said. (T/P001/R03)

Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)