Cliff JudyA suicide bomber detonated near a NATO military convoy in Afghanistan Tuesday morning, killing three troops and injuring several more. Reporters in the capital Kabul reported the blast was very big.
AL JAZEERA REPORTER: "A huge blast. You could hear it across the capital this morning. ... And, of course, it comes at a terrible time for Afghanistan. It's a very delicate time here. Afghans are all on edge hoping soon that there will be a new president."
NATO's International Security Assistance Force, or ISAF, confirmed the three casualties, but coalition forces didn't identify the soldiers or say which countries they were from.
CBS reports the attack happened in an area close to a U.S. military base, the U.S. Embassy in Kabul and the Afghanistan Supreme Court.
The number of people hurt varies, though you can see military and medical personnel trying to tend to the injured in several videos released by media. Kabul police told TOLOnews the number of injured civilians was 13 with other outlets like CBS citing as many as 20 people hurt counting both troops and civilians.
The Taliban has claimed responsibility for the attacks with a spokesman saying a bomber drove a Toyota Corolla into the convoy before detonating the explosives. (Video via ODN)
The unrest comes as the country's two main presidential candidates continue to struggle for who should run the country.
Abdullah Abdullah and Ashraf Ghani have met to discuss possible power-sharing agreements, but nothing has been decided after both April and June elections failed to name one man as president.
ISAF also confirmed another soldier killed in a separate incident Monday as a person wearing an Afghan National Army uniform turned his gun on the coalition fighter. It could be yet another case of what's come to be known as a "green-on-blue" attack.
Most coalition forces are scheduled to leave Afghanistan by the end of this year, though some will stay to train and advise local security forces.
