Afghan police: Suicide car bomber attacks in western part of Afghan capital, 3 dead

At least 3 dead in suicide car bomb in Kabul

KABUL, Afghanistan — A suicide car bomber attacked the heavily fortified Afghan capital early Tuesday, killing at least three people and wounding 21, officials said.

It was the first major attack in Kabul since February when suicide bombers struck two small hotels in the city center. That attack killed 16 people and led Afghan police to pledge that they would tighten security and surveillance.

Police have publicized a number of arrests of would-be bombers since then, but Tuesday’s bombing was a reminder that the city’s defenses remain permeable by determined attackers.

Initial reports of the explosion in western Kabul indicated that U.S. vehicles were targeted, said Abdul Ghafor Sayedzada, the chief of the city police’s criminal investigation unit. The area around the blast site also is home to Afghan government buildings, including the Ministry of Energy and Water.

An Associated Press reporter on the scene saw the wreckage of a public bus and four sport utility vehicles. The SUVs were painted white and grey but no markings identifying them as American were immediately discernable. It was not immediately clear if they were civilian or military vehicles, which sometimes carry no markings.

The U.S. Embassy and NATO forces both declined to comment on whether any of their vehicles were involved in the attack.

NATO said in a statement that it was working with Afghan authorities to investigate the explosion but did not provide further details.

U.S. soldiers and Afghan police worked to secure the site as news trickled out of deaths and injuries. A police officer at the scene, Habibullah Mohammadi, said he saw three dead bodies and an AP reporter saw one dead body carried away by police.

A spokesman for the Health Ministry said that two dead and 21 wounded civilians had been brought to Afghan government hospitals but stressed that this was not a complete tally because some people were taken to private hospitals. He did not provide details on the nationalities of the dead or wounded.

The Feb. 26 attack against two residential hotels killed six Indians, along with 10 Afghans. Afghan authorities blamed the attack on Lashkar-e-Taiba, the same Pakistan-based Islamist militia that India blames for the 2008 Mumbai terrorist attacks that killed 166 people.

Associated Press Writer Heidi Vogt contributed to this report.