Afghanistan — International Forces Investigate Kabul Car Bomb

WASHINGTON, May 18, 2010 — Six Inter­na­tion­al Secu­ri­ty Assis­tance Force ser­vice­mem­bers and numer­ous Afghan civil­ians were killed and sev­er­al oth­ers were wound­ed in Kab­ul, Afghanistan, this morn­ing when a vehi­cle bomb det­o­nat­ed near an inter­na­tion­al con­voy, mil­i­tary offi­cials said.

The sui­cide bomb explod­ed on Daru­la­man Road, where sev­er­al civil­ian vehi­cles were trav­el­ing near the Inter­na­tion­al Secu­ri­ty Assis­tance Forces con­voy. The injured were evac­u­at­ed to med­ical facilities. 

“ISAF strong­ly con­demns the attack on civil­ians and ISAF forces,” said Ger­man Brig. Gen. Josef Blotz, an ISAF spokesman. “This sort of des­per­ate bru­tal­i­ty and aggres­sion reminds us of the pes­simism of an ene­my who seek to kill the inno­cent and to stop the progress nec­es­sary for a bet­ter Afghanistan. This will not deter us from our mis­sion of secur­ing a bet­ter future for this country.” 

The explo­sion also dam­aged five ISAF vehi­cles and more than a dozen civil­ian vehicles. 

ISAF is assist­ing Afghan secu­ri­ty forces in secur­ing the area and inves­ti­gat­ing the incident. 

In oth­er news from Afghanistan: 

— An inter­na­tion­al patrol in the Tarin Kot dis­trict of Uruz­gan province yes­ter­day found three rifles, a rock­et-pro­pelled grenade fuel cell, two recoil­less rifle rounds, a machine gun and a pair of binoculars. 

— An Afghan-inter­na­tion­al secu­ri­ty patrol con­fis­cat­ed 50 pounds of wet opi­um while con­duct­ing a search of a com­pound in Hel­mand province’s Nad‑e Ali dis­trict yesterday. 

— In Log­ar province’s Bara­ki Barak dis­trict yes­ter­day, a com­bined patrol found a home­made bomb con­sist­ing of four recoil­less rifle rounds and a mor­tar and anoth­er device made with recoil­less rifle rounds and home­made explo­sives. An explo­sive ord­nance dis­pos­al team destroyed the bombs. 

— A com­bined patrol in Helmand’s Now Zad dis­trict yes­ter­day found and destroyed 150 pounds of a sub­stance believed to be ammo­ni­um nitrate, a banned fer­til­iz­er that can be used to make explosives. 

— In the Kun­duz dis­trict of Kun­duz province yes­ter­day, Afghan chil­dren led an ISAF patrol to an 82 mm high-explo­sive mor­tar round. The round was destroyed. 

No Afghan civil­ians were harmed in these oper­a­tions, offi­cials said. 

Source:
Com­piled from Inter­na­tion­al Secu­ri­ty Assis­tance Force Joint Com­mand News Releases