Suicide blast in Kabul kills 3 near US Embassy

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) ? A suicide bomber struck outside the Afghan Supreme Court near the U.S. Embassy in Kabul on Tuesday, killing at least three people and wounding seven, police said.

The bomb exploded outside the court's back entrance as employees were leaving for the day and as cars belonging to staff were driving out of the back gate, said police officer Jahn Agha.

Eyewitnesses said the bomber was on foot.

The courthouse is located on a road a few hundred meters (yards) from the gates of the American mission in a central part of Kabul, which lead to initial confusion as to the intended target of the blast. However, the gates are quite a distance from the actual U.S. Embassy building and also from nearby NATO headquarters.

Deputy police chief Dawood Amin said the top court was the target of the attack.

"There were casualties among the supreme court officials," said eyewitness Mohammad Salem.

It was the second attack in Kabul in as many days. No one immediately claimed responsibility for Tuesday's attack but it comes as the Taliban and other militants have unleashed a wave of bombings and assassinations around the country, testing the ability of the Afghan security forces to respond with reduced help from international forces, which have begun a withdrawal that will see most foreign troops gone by the end of 2014.

On Monday, seven Taliban fighters with rocket-propelled grenades and machine guns launched a rare assault on NATO's operational headquarters at the military section of Kabul's international airport. All seven militants were killed and two civilians were wounded in the violence.

The failed attack showed that despite an enormous security blanket around the capital, insurgents can still menace Kabul.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/suicide-blast-kabul-kills-3-near-us-embassy-130146925.html

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