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| Afghanistan |
| Afghan presidential palace attacked before vote |
| 2009-08-19 |
| 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 presidential 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 U.S. military base on a key road leading east out of Kabul, the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force said. Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid, in a message sent to Reuters via mobile phone, claimed the fighters had fired four rockets, but gave no further details. Militants who have vowed to disrupt Thursday's election have fired rockets at the capital twice this month. On Saturday they detonated a massive suicide bomb outside the headquarters of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in central Kabul, killing seven people and wounded dozens more. Such attacks have been rare in the capital this year. |
| Posted by:Fred |