Saturday, November 14, 2009

Afghan officials said more than twenty people have been wounded today in a suicide car bomb attack on a convoy of vehicles near Camp Phoenix, a US-runNATO military base in the capital of Kabul. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the bombing.

NATO said nine of its soldiers and ten civilian contractors were among those wounded. It added that the rest of the casualties were bystanders, including several Afghans.

According to NATO spokesman Kevin Bell, the attack happened at just before 08.00 local time, close to a checkpoint at the base. Camp Phoenix houses US soldiers that help train Afghan security forces.

Several attacks have targeted international operations in the Afghan capital, Kabul, in recent months, including attacks on a UN guesthouse and the Indian embassy.

This year has been the deadliest for international troops in Afghanistan since the fall of the government in 2001.