Kabul bomb kills seven Afghans, some NATO troops

KABUL: A suicide car bomb in the Afghan capital Tuesday killed seven Afghan civilians and some NATO troops, and wounded more than 50 people in an attack two days before elections, officials said.
The Taliban claimed responsibility for the blast and a volley of rockets fired into the heavily secured capital, one of which an official said struck the outskirts of the compound of President Hamid Karzai but caused no damage.
The latest attacks come two days after a deadly suicide car bombing outside the main NATO base in Kabul and follow repeated Taliban threats of new assaults in a bid to sabotage presidential and provincial council elections on Thursday.
The explosion was near a US military base on a key road leading east out of Kabul, the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force said.
"There have been some ISAF soldiers killed and several wounded," an ISAF press officer said.
On the Afghan casualties, public health ministry spokesman Ahmad Farid Rahid said: "Seven people have been martyred and 51 have been wounded."
"The dead and wounded have been evacuated to three hospitals," he said. The dead were all civilians, he said.
Witnesses said they saw about a dozen people, blackened by burn injuries and bloodied from the blast site.
It caused minor damage to a UN vehicle and slightly wounded three Afghan staff working for the United Nations, spokesman Aleem Siddique said.
An Afghan man, whose clothes were covered in blood, told reporters at the scene that his son had been hurt.
"All of a sudden I heard a big explosion. I don't know what caused it. I saw my son wounded -- I had to rush him out of the area. I didn't have much time to look around and see what happened," he said, without giving his name.
About a dozen ambulances raced to evacuate casualties from the site, which is on a road leading east out of the city that is used regularly by international soldiers.
"It was a suicide attack... targeting a supply convoy of foreign forces on the Bagram road," Kabul criminal investigation police chief Sayed Abdul Ghafar Sayedzada told reporters at the scene.
"Since the bombing took place in an area where there is a bazaar, most of the casualties are civilians," he added.
A Taliban spokesman claimed responsibility for the blast in a telephone call to a French news agency.
Ziarat Gul, in his 30s, had head injuries from glass shattered by the blast.
"I was sitting in my office and all of a sudden all the windows broke. I left," he said. The explosion comes two days before millions of Afghans are to vote in key presidential and provincial council elections, which have been overshadowed by Taliban threats to disrupt the polls and a surge in recent violence.
Saturday's blast outside the main NATO base in Kabul was the first suicide attack in the heavily secured city since February. Rockets have been fired into the city regularly but seldom cause much damage or casualties.
However, a rocket that struck the outer area of Karzai's heavily secured compound early Tuesday rattled the city.
Karzai's chief spokesman, Homayun Hamidzada, said the explosion was small and had caused no damage or casualties.
The president had gone about his daily business, Hamidzada said, adding he hoped Afghan voters would have the same attitude and not allow the threat of attack to deter them from voting on Thursday.
Karzai is the frontrunner in the presidential election and is widely expected to win a second term in office, although he may be forced into a second round run-off if he fails to secure an outright majority.