13 Americans killed in Kabul attack

It was the worst loss of life among American troops in the capital in several years.

NATO said that of the 13 Americans killed,five were coalition troops and eight were civilian contractors.

The attack on the bus,known as a Rhino because of its heavy armour,took place in front of the American University on a route often travelled by military trainers from NATO bases in downtown Kabul to the Kabul Military Training Center. At least eight others were reported among the dead,including three Afghan police officers and two children. A military dog was also killed,the official said.

A Taliban spokesman,Zabiullah Mujahid,claimed responsibility,saying that a suicide bomber,Abdul Rahman Hazarbos,drove a truck with 1,500 pounds of explosives into a bus carrying foreign military trainers,killing all aboard.

In addition,three Australian NATO soldiers were killed on Saturday by an Afghan soldier who turned his weapon on them,Afghan officials said.

In Kabul,one eyewitness said he saw six dead American soldiers inside the bus,which was completely burned from the explosion,and the Kabul police chief confirmed that Americans were killed.

The attack on the Australians took place in the Nish District of Kandahar Province,at a forward operating base used by Australian troops to train the Afghan National Army. General Abdul Hameed,the commander of the Afghan National Army’s 205th Corps,said an Afghan Army trainee opened fire on his Australian trainers,killing three of them as well as an Afghan interpreter. At least nine others were wounded,General Hameed said,seven of them Australians.

“The soldier was not new,the first phase of his training was completed and he was in the second phase of his training,” he said.

Other Afghan soldiers killed the attacker,he said.

A statement by the NATO-led forces said two International Security Assistance Force service members were killed in the incident,along with the attacker.

In Kabul,a witness at the scene said the bus had been blown onto its side and was completely charred. In addition,there were several civilian victims nearby,he said.

There were three other serious violent incidents reported around the country on Saturday. Insurgents attacked a NATO and Afghan military convoy in eastern Nangarhar province on Friday,and 30 attackers were killed in an ensuing gunfight and airstrikes.

Also on Saturday,a young female suicide bomber on foot attacked government offices in eastern Asadabad city,wounding four,according to the chief of security for Kunar Province,Abdul Sabor Allayar. Guards at the Afghan intelligence service spotted the woman,who was wearing a burqa,and shot her to death before she could get close enough to cause much harm,he said.