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7 die in blast at NATO HQ in Kabul

(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-08-15 17:03

A woman who was wounded in a blast in front of the NATO headquarters, rests at a hospital in Kabul August 15, 2009. [Agencies]

Afghan security forces stopped the vehicle in front of NATO headquarters, and then the bomber detonated the explosives, Tremblay said.

"The security measures in place have stopped cold the bombers as planned," he said, calling the latest attack an example of the "residual risk" that remains despite the safety measures taken. "It's very difficult to stop a suicide bomber."

The blast killed seven Afghans and wounded 91, Gen. Mohammad Zahir Azimi, the spokesman for the Afghan Ministry of Defense, said.

Four Afghan soldiers and Awa Alam Nuristani, a member of parliament and President Hamid Karzai's campaign manager for women, were among the wounded, the ministry said.

"I was drinking tea in our office when a big explosion happened," said Abdul Fahim, an Afghan in his mid-20s who sustained leg injuries. "I lay on the ground and then I saw wounded victims everywhere, including police and civilians."

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The chief of Kabul's criminal investigation department, Abdul Ghafar Sayadzada, said 600 pounds (272 kilograms) of explosives were used, and that because of the amount he suspected al-Qaida was involved. The attacker passed three police checkpoints, Sayadzada said.

A Taliban spokesman, Zabiullah Mujahid, claimed responsibility for the blast and said the bomb contained 1,100 pounds (500 kilograms) of explosives. Mujahid at first said the bomber was on foot, then later called back and said it was a suicide car bomb attack.

The attack falls in line with increasingly spectacular and sophisticated strikes carried out by Afghanistan militants. The Taliban have carried out several coordinated attacks in the last several months with multiple teams of insurgents assaulting government sites. Military analysts have said the increased sophistication comes from training by al-Qaida operatives.

NATO headquarters has several large, cement blocks and steel gates that prevent anyone from reaching the entrance, and the bomber was not able to breach those barriers. Afghanistan's Transportation Ministry lies across the street from NATO headquarters.

Mujahid, the Taliban spokesman, said a suicide bomber named Ahmadullah from the Bagrami district of Kabul province carried out Saturday's attack.

A driver from the nearby Defense Ministry said he took at least 12 people to the hospital. Most were seriously wounded, said the driver, who spoke to an Associated Press reporter at the scene but didn't want to give his name because of safety concerns.

Kabul has been relatively quiet over the last half year, though militants have launched a barrage of rockets into the capital this month, most of which landed harmlessly in open spaces.

Security has increased over the last several weeks in preparation for Thursday's vote.

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