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An Afghan woman injured in a suicide attack cries for help near the site where a suicide car bomber attacked an Italian military convoy on a road in Kabul, Afghanistan, on Thursday. The blast killed 10 Afghan civilians and six Italian soldiers.
AP Photo
KABUL — A suicide car bomber killed six Italian soldiers and 10 Afghan civilians Thursday in the heavily guarded capital of Kabul — a grim reminder of the Taliban’s reach amid political uncertainty in Afghanistan.
The Taliban claimed responsibility for the deadliest attack for the Italian contingent in the country.
Violence has increased since the U.S. sent thousands more troops to push back the resurgent Taliban and bolster security for last month’s still-unresolved presidential election. The Taliban made good on threats to disturb the vote, and attacks have risen not just in the group’s southern heartland but also in the north and in Kabul and surrounding areas.
The bomber rammed his explosives-filled car into two Italian military vehicles in a convoy about midday. Four Italian soldiers were also wounded, said Italian Defense Minister Ignazio La Russa. The Afghan Interior Ministry said an additional 55 civilians were injured.
The explosion shattered windows in buildings about half a mile (a kilometer) away and shook offices and homes throughout the central Afghan neighborhood that houses embassies and military bases.
Charred vehicles littered the road just off a main traffic circle that leads to the airport. An Associated Press reporter saw six vehicles burned, including an Italian Humvee, and two bodies covered with plastic sheets.
Shopkeeper Feraudin Ansari said he felt the blast in his store about 50 yards away. Windows were broken in all the nearby shops. He said he was angry at NATO forces for being in the downtown.