December 5, 2007
Afghan Bomber Hits NATO Convoy
By ABDUL WAHEED WAFA
KABUL, Afghanistan, Dec. 4 -- A suicide car bomber crashed into a two-car NATO convoy on the Kabul airport road on Tuesday morning, wounding 22 Afghan civilians on their way to work.
A statement issued by the International Security and Assistance Force, as the NATO military forces in Afghanistan are known, confirmed that the attack had taken place. The statement said no soldiers had been wounded.
A spokesman for the Taliban, Zabihullah Mujahid, said by telephone that the group was responsible for the attack. He said the bomber was a Kabul University student named Shukrullah.
Most of the wounded were passengers on a minibus that was passing at the time of the explosion, according to Ali Shah Paktiawal of the Kabul police.
Mohammed Asif, a shopkeeper who saw the explosion, said, "There was a big flash followed by a huge and thick smoke and a very strong explosion."
Another witness, a man named Gulzad, said: "I saw a man in a brown Corolla car that crashed his car with two white Land Cruisers, but caused severe damage to a minibus that was passing. I saw eight people who were injured in the minibus. Two of them were women." Gulzad said he was waiting for a bus to take him to his shop in the Kabul bazaar when the attack took place.
Gen. Carlos Branco, a Portuguese officer who acts as a spokesman for the NATO forces, said in a statement, "These barbaric suicide bombings rarely cause I.S.A.F. casualties, but almost always result in indiscriminate innocent civilian casualties."