Kabul suicide bomb kills 13 U.S. troops
- 13 years ago
Thirteen American troops are killed in the Afghan capital Kabul Saturday in the deadliest single ground attack against the NATO-led forces in 10 years of war in Afghanistan
Brigadier General Carsten Jacobson is the spokesman for the International Security Assistance Force.
SOUNDBITE: Brigadier General Carsten Jacobson , saying (English):
"Today we have seen a rather serious incident here in Kabul when a car packed with explosive was driven by a suicide bomber towards a personal transport of ISAF the vehicle was exploded and we have suffered thirteen casualties."
Jacobson lamented the tragedy, but said no one would be seeking revenge.
SOUNDBITE: Brigadier General Carsten Jacobson , saying (English):
"It is a waste of human life; it is again an attack that did not only hurt ISAF personnel but also innocent civilian bystanders who were close to this incident. We are at the moment in time where it is time to think about reconciliation and reintegration. This is not the moment in time to kill innocent people," .
The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack on a convoy of military vehicles, which also killed three civilians and a police officer.
Excluding aircraft crashes, it was the deadliest single incident for foreign troops since the war began in 2001.
Lethal attacks are relatively rare in heavily guarded Kabul, compared with the south and east of Afghanistan, but Saturday's killings came less than two months after insurgents launched a 20-hour assault on the U.S. embassy in the capital.
More than a dozen people were killed in the attack.
Afghanistan's government and its foreign backers are preparing for the end of 2014, the deadline for foreign combat troops to return home.
Some Afghans fear their own security forces will be unable to cope with the insurgency and the country may fall into civil war.
Violence across Afghanistan is at its worst since the start of the war 10 years ago, according to the United Nations, despite the presence of more than 130,000 foreign troops.
Deborah Lutterbeck, Reuters
Brigadier General Carsten Jacobson is the spokesman for the International Security Assistance Force.
SOUNDBITE: Brigadier General Carsten Jacobson , saying (English):
"Today we have seen a rather serious incident here in Kabul when a car packed with explosive was driven by a suicide bomber towards a personal transport of ISAF the vehicle was exploded and we have suffered thirteen casualties."
Jacobson lamented the tragedy, but said no one would be seeking revenge.
SOUNDBITE: Brigadier General Carsten Jacobson , saying (English):
"It is a waste of human life; it is again an attack that did not only hurt ISAF personnel but also innocent civilian bystanders who were close to this incident. We are at the moment in time where it is time to think about reconciliation and reintegration. This is not the moment in time to kill innocent people," .
The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack on a convoy of military vehicles, which also killed three civilians and a police officer.
Excluding aircraft crashes, it was the deadliest single incident for foreign troops since the war began in 2001.
Lethal attacks are relatively rare in heavily guarded Kabul, compared with the south and east of Afghanistan, but Saturday's killings came less than two months after insurgents launched a 20-hour assault on the U.S. embassy in the capital.
More than a dozen people were killed in the attack.
Afghanistan's government and its foreign backers are preparing for the end of 2014, the deadline for foreign combat troops to return home.
Some Afghans fear their own security forces will be unable to cope with the insurgency and the country may fall into civil war.
Violence across Afghanistan is at its worst since the start of the war 10 years ago, according to the United Nations, despite the presence of more than 130,000 foreign troops.
Deborah Lutterbeck, Reuters