Taliban suicide attack on NATO convoy in Kabul: officials

Kabul: A Taliban suicide bomber detonated an explosives-packed vehicle next to a NATO military convoy in Kabul on Friday, officials said.

"Three International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) service members died following a suicide vehicle-borne improvised explosive device attack in Kabul, Afghanistan today," a statement from the NATO mission said.

The attack occurred on a main road that passes by a series of government compounds and military facilities in the Afghan capital on the way to the eastern city of Jalalabad.

"Around 1:00 pm, a suicide bomber blew up a car targeting a convoy of foreign forces on the Kabul-Jalalabad road," Hashmatullah Stanikzai, spokesman for the Kabul police, told AFP.

"Our security forces have rushed to the scene to investigate, and we don't have any information on casualties yet."

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An AFP reporter said that civilian ambulances and armoured vehicles from the US-led NATO mission in Afghanistan were at the blast site, which was quickly cordoned off by police.

"Our mujahideen have detonated a car bomb attack on a convoy of foreign forces today afternoon," Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid told AFP.

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"As a result of the attack, several foreign forces were killed and a number of their vehicles were damaged."

The Taliban routinely exaggerate death tolls after attacks.

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A spokesman for NATO's mission in Afghanistan, the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), said the explosion was being investigated but gave no further details.