Bombings kill 13 Afghans in 2 provinces

Associated Press

KABUL, Afghanistan

A suicide car bomber targeting a convoy of U.S. troops in eastern Afghanistan killed three Afghan civilians and wounded four on Friday, while in another eastern province, 10 people were killed when their minivan hit a roadside bomb, officials said.

The international aid group Save the Children, meanwhile, said five of its local staff who had been abducted several weeks ago were found dead in the southern Uruzgan province.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the convoy attack, which took place near the U.S. military base not far from the airport in Jalalabad, the capital of Nangarhar province.

No American soldiers were wounded in the bombing, said Hazrat Hussain Mashraqiwal, the spokesman for the provincial police chief.

The attack happened outside the gates of the base as the convoy was returning from an early patrol, according to an official at the base who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to media.

The area is built up, with residential housing mixed with retail outlets, mostly selling vehicles. Friday is the weekend in Afghanistan and the area is typically bustling with people.

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said the insurgent group was behind the attack.

The bombing came just two days after an Afghan soldier turned his weapon on American troops at the Nangarhar provincial governor’s compound, about 8 miles from the U.S. base. One U.S. soldier was killed and eight others were wounded in the attack.