Three Foreign Troops Killed in Suicide Attack in Kabul

Three foreign troops were killed Tuesday after a suicide bomber rammed his explosive filled car in to a convoy near the U.S. Embassy in Kabul.

The Taliban has claimed responsibility for the attack. In a text message sent to media persons, a Taliban spokesman said that the suicide bomber was waiting for the foreign troops in a car filled with explosives, reports Reuters.

The blast rattled buildings in the surrounding neighborhood and sent dark plumes of smoke in to the sky.

Maiwand, a shopkeeper was only a few hundred meters away when the explosion went off.

 "My friend and I were in the car, talking about the elections, when a big boom interrupted us," he said. "We stopped the car and we went to the scene, where we saw children lying on the side of the road," he said, reports The Wall Street Journal.

Nearly 13 civilians were also injured in the blast, said Kabul police spokesman Hashmat Stanikzai.

The NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) coalition said in a statement that five troops were injured in addition to the three killed. However, it did not mention the nationality of the troops, reports the Associated Press.

Meanwhile, a U.S. soldier was killed on Monday by an unidentified member of the Afghan security forces in the western Herat province.  According to a western official, the soldier was killed when the Afghan threw a hand grenade at his trainers.

ISAF said Tuesday that the U.S. soldier was killed when a person wearing an Afghan army uniform turned his weapon against ISAF members, reports Reuters.

With the three deaths in the bomb explosion, the total number of international troops killed in Afghanistan has reached 59; 42 of them being American soldiers.