Suicide Bomb Blast Kills 3 at Airport in Afghan Capital
By VOA News
08 September 2009
ISAF soldiers secure the site of the car bomb, outside the entrance to the military airport, in Kabul, Afghanistan, 08 Sep 2009
Officials in Afghanistan say a suicide car bomber struck near a military base at the international airport in Kabul early Tuesday, killing three civilians and wounding six.
The Taliban claimed responsibility for the blast, which also wounded an international soldier.
The airport is used by civilians as well as foreign troops operating in the country. The bombing took place outside the gate on the military side.
Taliban insurgents targeted the airport with rocket attacks last month, as they intensified their campaign of violence ahead of the country＇s presidential election.
Meanwhile, the NATO-led international force in Afghanistan has concluded that civilians were among those killed and wounded in an air strike Friday in the northern province of Kunduz.
The assessment was based on an initial investigation into the incident.
The air strike, ordered by a German commander, was targeting Taliban militants, but local officials claimed many civilians also were killed.
The commander of the NATO mission, U.S. General Stanley McChrystal, has appointed a board to conduct a thorough investigation into the events that led to the strike. He named a Canadian officer Major General C.S. Sullivan to lead the team.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel has expressed regret for any innocent victims who may have died in the strike.
Speaking to Germany＇s parliament Tuesday, Ms. Merkel said every innocent person killed in Afghanistan is "one too many."
German Defense Minister Franz Josef Jung has defended the attack, which was aimed at militants who had seized two trucks carrying fuel. Jung said the Taliban could have used the fuel tanks to launch a major attack on nearby German soldiers.
An Afghan human rights group (the Kabul-based Afghan Rights Monitor) said the air strike killed as many as 70 civilians.
In other violence, 12 Taliban militants were killed Monday during a clash with police in northwestern Baghlan province. Provincial Governor Mohammad Barakzai says police suffered no casualties during the ambush. He said, however, that as the police returned from the fighting, their convoy was hit by a bomb, killing one officer and wounding at least 17 others.
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