Massive explosion rocks heart of Kabul

Press TV, Tuesday, 26 Jan 2010, 18:48:28 GMT

Afghan policemen keep watch at the site of a terrorist car bomb attack in Kabul on Tuesday.

A loud explosion has rocked the Afghan capital after a terrorist bomber blew himself up near a US military convoy in Kabul. The explosion caused casualties among foreign troops and Afghan civilians, security sources said. According to a security source, the attack was aimed at foreign troops since it happened near the city center close to foreign military bases.

"The blast took place on a road leading east from the city center, close to several large bases for foreign troops,” said the source. ”There are casualties among Afghan civilians and foreign forces." US soldiers were blocking access to the scene on the Jalalabad road, the main highway leading east out of the capital, a witness told Reuters. Meanwhile, Afghan security forces arrested a man over last week's deadly assault on key government sites in the heart of Kabul, authorities said Tuesday.

The National Directorate of Security identified the suspect as a 29-year-old man named Kamulddin and released a video of him confessing to the strike. HSH/MB

Nine wounded in bombing outside US base in Kabul

Tue Jan 26, 2010, 9:19 am ET

KABUL (AFP) –

A suicide bomber struck near a US military base in Kabul on Tuesday injuring at least nine Afghans, police and the NATO force said, just days ahead of a global summit on tackling a Taliban-led insurgency.

The attacker detonated a car packed with explosives near the main gate of Camp Phoenix, a military base on the outskirts of Kabul on the main road to the eastern provinces. Other NATO member states also have a presence in the camp.

Although there was no immediate claim of responsibility, the bombing bore the hallmarks of the Taliban, who are waging an increasingly deadly insurgency to topple the Afghan government and oust foreign troops.

"There was a suicide car bomb attack near Camp Phoenix. The suicide attacker detonated his car close to an international forces convoy," Kabul police chief Abdul Rahman told AFP.

He said nine Afghan civilians including three who worked as interpreters for the foreign forces were injured, adding: "The situation is under control."

NATO's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said it was "aware of an explosion outside the main gate of Camp Phoenix that occurred this afternoon at approximately 5:00 pm (1230 GMT)".

"Initial reports indicate the cause of the explosion was a vehicle-borne IED," the force said, referring to an improvised explosive device in a car.

The bombing comes just over a week after seven Taliban gunmen armed with suicide vests launched an attack on civilian and government buildings near the presidential palace in Kabul, killing five people.

The January 18 attack on Kabul was one of the most dramatic strikes on the capital since the 2001 US-led invasion ousted the Taliban government, sparking the insurgency by remnants of the regime.

Camp Phoenix was the site of another suicide blast last November, when both foreign soldiers and Afghan civilians were injured in a similar attack.

Afghan soldiers are trained at the base by international troops, who have put the training of Afghanistan's security forces at the heart of efforts to hand over responsibility for fighting the Taliban insurgency.

Karzai wants to boost the Afghan police and army from the current 190,000 to 300,000 by mid next year, and will use the conference in the British capital on Thursday to drum up funding for the scheme.

Taliban claims 25 dead in attack near U.S. base

January 26, 2010 12:39 p.m. EST STORY HIGHLIGHTS

Kabul, Afghanistan (CNN) --

As Afghan authorities announced the arrest of an alleged militant for planning last week's assault on Kabul, a bomber targeted a U.S. base outside the capital, the latest attempt by militants to strike the seat of Western and Afghan power.

The NATO-led command said the latest explosion occurred around 5 p.m. Tuesday outside the main gate at Camp Phoenix, a U.S. military base on the outskirts of the capital. It said initial reports indicate that the blast was caused by a vehicle bomb, but did not release any casualty figures.

The Taliban has claimed responsibility for the attack, authorities said.

An Afghan military official at the scene of the strike said the vehicle blast injured eight Afghan civilians and two U.S. service members, and an eyewitness showed CNN digital camera photos of about 11 or 12 injured people.

Taliban spokesman Zabullah Mujahid claimed in a text message that the strike killed 25 soldiers and damaged three tanks.

Afghan soldiers cordoned off the area about 60 meters, or more than 65 yards, from the blast.

The latest explosion erupted eight days after a dramatic and well-coordinated assault on key government sites in Kabul killed five people and wounded more than 70 others. The January 18 strike was particularly audacious because militants penetrated the Afghan government's power centers as members of Afghan President Hamid Karzai's Cabinet were to be sworn into office.

Raids across Afghanistan late Monday and Tuesday led to the detention of insurgents, the discovery of weapons and the killing of at least one militant, according to releases from NATO's International Security Assistance Force.

ISAF (NATO) forces killed "several armed insurgents "on Tuesday in Konar province, in eastern Afghanistan with an airstrike targeting insurgents seen "maneuvering to a fighting position previously used to stage attacks."

International forces have been bulking up their troop presence in recent months to counter militants. In the latest move, Chancellor Angela Merkel said Germany will send 500 more troops to Afghanistan to work in security and training. ISAF said that nation has more than 4,200 troops in the country.