Suicide bomber kills 14, including 6 Americans, in Afghan capital

USPA News - A suspected Hezb-i-Islami suicide bomber detonated his explosives-laden car Thursday next to a NATO convoy in the Afghan capital of Kabul, killing eight Afghan civilians and six Americans working for the multinational coalition, officials and sources said. The attack occurred just before 8 a.m. local time when a Toyota Corolla blew up next to two armored U.S. military vehicles which were part of a convoy in the eastern part of Kabul, creating a massive explosion that destroyed vehicles and set several nearby buildings on fire.

Thick black smoke could be seen rising from the area. Kabul police said eight Afghan civilians were killed in the powerful explosion, including two children. The NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) confirmed two of its service members and four ISAF contracted civilians were also killed, and a military source in Washington identified all six as American citizens. Around 30 people, many of them children, were also injured in the explosion that happened at a time when many children in the area were on their way to school. The Hezb-i-Islami insurgent group claimed responsibility for the attack, vowing to carry out more attacks against American troops in the country. The latest deaths raise the number of coalition troops killed in Afghanistan so far this year to 65, according to official figures. A total of 402 ISAF troops were killed in Afghanistan in 2012, down from 566 fatalities in 2011 and 711 in 2010. A majority of the fallen troops were American and were killed in the country`s south, which is plagued by IED attacks on troops and civilians. There are currently more than 100,.000 foreign troops in Afghanistan, including some 68,.000 U.S. troops and 9,.000 British soldiers. Approximately 3,800 British soldiers are expected to withdraw from Afghanistan by the end of 2013, with all foreign combat troops due to leave by the end of 2014.