Two women, British security contractor killed in suicide bombing

Three people were killed after a car bomb rammed a foreign convoy near the main airport in Afghanistan’s capital, officials have said.

The Afghan interior ministry said that at least two women were killed and 21 civilians wounded after a suicide bomber detonated a car laden with explosives in an attack targeting a convoy of foreign troops nearby a NATO military installation.

The NATO force in Afghanistan said it could not confirm if any of its vehicles had been hit in the attack, but the European Union police mission (Eupol) said it believed its vehicles were involved.

An Interior Ministry spokesman, Sediq Sediqqi, said two Afghan women were killed in the blast. A British security contractor was also killed in the attack while traveling in a Eupol vehicle. The wounded also included eight women and three children.

Najib Danish, the deputy spokesman for the Interior Ministry, said one foreign vehicle and two civilian vehicles were damaged in the blast. The bomber struck about 200 metres from the main airport entrance along the road leading to the base.

A Taliban spokesman claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement posted on Twitter.

The Taliban have launched a wave of attacks around the country since the drawdown of most foreign troops last year to a small training force.

The group claimed responsibility for an attack on a Kabul guesthouse last week that left 14 people dead, including nine foreigners.