Suicide attack in Afghan capital as Gates visits
A Taliban suicide car bomber blew himself up near NATO troops in the Afghan capital Kabul on Tuesday, wounding 22 civilians as US Defence Secretary Robert Gates visited to assess rising extremist violence.
Gates, who arrived late Monday on a surprise trip, was not affected in the explosion on the road to the airport, a Western official said on condition of anonymity, although he drove past the scene about two hours later.
The target of the blast was two vehicles from the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) travelling to the airport, ISAF said.
"No ISAF soldiers were injured but at least 22 local residents of Kabul were wounded during the suicide attack," it said in a statement.
The interior ministry said in a separate statement the "bomber wanted to target the foreign forces but did not succeed. He exploded shortly before they passed," it said.
The windows of a government bus were also shattered by the blast and its sides pierced by shrapnel, an AFP reporter said. Witnesses said a woman and a five men on the bus were wounded.
The car used in the attack was reduced to flaming metal, the reporter said.
One of the Taliban`s main spokesmen, Zabihullah Mujahed, said the extremist group was responsible for the attack. He said the suicide bomber was a university student in Kabul but there was no way of checking the claim.
There have been about 140 suicide attacks in Afghanistan this year, most carried out by the Taliban who were in government between 1996 and 2001.
In the past few weeks there have been several attacks in and around the capital, including one late November that killed an Italian military engineer and eight Afghans, three of them children.
In other violence, four policemen were killed late Monday in Ghazni province south of Kabul when Taliban attacks a police post, a police chief said. Four of the attackers were also killed, he said.
Gates was due later Tuesday to meet President Hamid Karzai and Defence Minister Abdul Rahim Wardak.
Earlier he met with commanders from ISAF nations in southern Afghanistan, which sees the worst of the insurgency.
He said Monday his trip was to evaluate international efforts against an increasing Taliban insurgency.
The "clear concern is that for two or three years there has been an increase of overall level of violence," Gates told reporters before arriving in Kabul.
This year has seen the worst of the Taliban-led insurgency since the hardliners were removed from government in late 2001 in a US-led invasion launched after they did not surrender Al-Qaeda leaders sought for the 9/11 attacks.
Nearly 6,000 people have been killed, most of them rebels but also about 1,000 Afghan security forces and more than 200 foreign soldiers.
A top US defence official travelling with Gates said there were "early indicators that there may be some stepped up activity by Al-Qaeda."
Asked about the claims, ISAF spokesman Brigadier General Carlos Branco told reporters travelling with Gates: "We have increased reports of foreign fighters` presence."
The Portuguese general also said the Taliban control no more than five out of 59 districts in southern Afghanistan. A European think-tank said last month the insurgents had a permanent presence in more than half of the country.
"As an insurgent movement, the Taliban have failed," Branco said. "After six years they only control small pockets. They can`t confront the ISAF forces."
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