A suicide bomber has driven a taxi into a convoy of US-led troops in Afghanistan, killing himself and a child, officials say. Officials say that the attack happened in the Yaqubay district of Khost province, and that two US soldiers and three other children were injured. Officials blamed the attack on al-Qaeda and Taleban militants, who have mounted a series of attacks throughout 2006. Officials say that Wednesday's attack took place while the US convoy was parked near a government building in the eastern province of Khost. "The suicide attacker was blown to pieces and a 12-year-old was killed on his way to school," the administrative chief of Yaqubay district, Mirza Jon Nimgari told the Reuters news agency.
Correspondents say that until recently suicide bombings in Afghanistan were rare. Wednesday's attack brings the number of suicide attacks in Afghanistan this year to nearly 30, more than the total for all of 2005 and dwarfing the figure for 2004.