CAR BOMB ATTACK HITS CONVOY OF FOREIGNERS IN AFGHANISTAN’S KABUL

On March 2, a booby-trapped mini truck driven by a suicide bomber exploded in the Qabel Bai area of the Afghan capital, Kabul, according to the Afghan Tolo TV.

Nusrat Rahimi, a deputy spokesman for the Afghan Interior Ministry, told Tolo that one Afghan civilian had been killed and 22 others had been injured in the attack.

The Afghan Ministry of Interior claimed that the attack targeted a “a foreign forces convoy”. However, Australia’s Foreign Affairs Minister Julie Bishop said in an official statement that the attack targeted several vehicles of the Australian Embassy. It added that no Australians had been killed or injured in the explosion.

“Today, a suspected vehicle-borne Improvised Explosive Device was detonated near Australian Embassy vehicles while they were travelling in Kabul,” Bishop said in a statement.

Later, Najib Danish, a spokesman for the Afghan Ministry of Interior corrected the ministry statement and said that “ a convoy of foreigners was targeted in today’s car bombing.”

Kabul hosted the second Kabul Process conference on February 28 in which the Afghan government had sent a peace offer to the Taliban. This could mean that the attack was not conducted by some other group, which is likely working to sabotage the peace process in the war-torn country.

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