NATO forces killed

The NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) says five of its service members and eight ISAF civilian employees were killed in a suicide car bombing in the Afghan capital, Kabul on Saturday.

A Pentagon spokesman said Americans were among the dead, while Canadian military authorities said one of their soldiers was also killed.

Afghan officials said earlier that at least four Afghans, including a policeman, were also killed.

Taliban claims responsibility

The attack occurred at 11.20 am local time on Saturday when a suicide bomber rammed a van full of explosives into a NATO convoy.

The Taliban, who are fighting Afghan and Western forces to regain control of the country, have claimed responsibility for the attack.

It is the worst such attack ever in the Afghan capital and the deadliest single ground attack against the coalition in 10 years of war in Afghanistan.

It comes a day after the Taliban launched a four-hour-long assault on a US-run civilian-military base and a local branch of Afghanistan's spy agency in the southern city of Kandahar.

Further attack

German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle has condemned the attack in a statement. "Germany mourns along with the dependents and friends of the murdered," Westerwelle said.

In another attack on Saturday, three Australian troops were killed in southern Uruzgan province when a man in an Afghan military uniform fired at coalition and Afghan forces. NATO said the shooter was later himself shot dead.

Thirty-two Australian troops have been killed so far in the conflict, but Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard said her government would not be deterred from its mission in Afghanistan - that of training Afghan security forces.

The Afghan regional commander, General Abdul Hameed, said an Afghan interpreter was also killed in the incident.

Western nations have begun bringing troops home and are looking to end their combat mission in Afghanistan by 2014.

Author: Timothy Jones, Richard Connor (AFP, AP, dpa)
Editor: Andreas Illmer