A Taliban car bomb targeted a US company in Kabul yesterday, killing one person and wounding at least 15 shortly after a landmine killed 10 young girls in eastern Afghanistan, officials said.
At the scene there were signs of a huge explosion
It was the most brazen assault aimed at Westerners in the fortified Afghan capital since a suicide car bomber killed 12 people, including eight South Africans, on September 18.
A security source at the military contracting firm Contrack told AFP that five foreigners, including Americans and South Africans, were among the wounded. Police said only three foreigners were slightly injured, mainly by flying glass.
Contrack is a US-owned company which builds military facilities for the Afghan army and police, an employee said.
“We were sitting in the office. There was a massive explosion. The ceiling collapsed over us and 10 to 12 Afghans in the office were wounded,” he said.
Police said it was not immediately clear whether anyone had been in the truck when the huge explosion occurred.
“A small truck packed with explosives detonated between Contrack and Najeeb Zarab factories – one person is dead and 15 others are wounded,” Kabul Police Chief Mohammad Ayoub Salangi told AFP.
“We don’t yet know whether there was someone in the truck or it was detonated remotely. They were very powerful explosives.”
The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack, saying it was a suicide car bombing carried out by a “hero mujahid” on “an important American company which provided security services to the invading forces”.
“This company was under the surveillance of the mujahedin for a while and thanks God today the opportunity was provided to attack it,” Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said in a statement.
The militia, which was ousted from power in Kabul by a 2001 US-led invasion, is fighting to bring down the Western-backed government and to expel US-led foreign troops.
An AFP reporter at the scene said there were signs of a huge explosion beyond an area blocked off by police, and some bystanders had also suffered minor injuries.
In May, Taliban bombers disguised in burqas attacked a heavily fortified guest house used by Westerners in the same area. Seven people were killed at the Green Village complex used by the EU, the UN and aid groups.
A US-led Nato force of some 100,000 troops is backing the Kabul Government against the Taliban insurgents, but they are due to pull out in 2014 and are training the Afghan army and police to take over responsibility for security.