A suicide bomber in a car attacked a convoy of foreign troops in Kabul, killing at least 15 people including six Americans on Thursday, Reuters reported. Forty people were wounded in the morning blast that occurred at about 8:30 A.M.
The Hezb-e-Islami insurgent group, which is allied with the Taliban, claimed responsibility for the attack on the convoy. NATO's International Security Assistance Force said the bomber killed two of its members and four civilian contractors, but they declined to give nationalities.
Afghan officials said that nine Afghan civilians were killed, including two children.
"Some of the dead civilians were badly burned and cannot be recognized, a spokesman for the Health Ministry told Reuters.
"Terrorists and enemies of Afghanistan's peace brutally targeted a residential area," Afghan President Hamid Karzai said. The Afghan President also accused neighboring Pakistan of meddling in hopes of destabilizing the country.
Hezb-e-Islami is a radical militant group, sharing some of the same anti -foreigner, and radical Islamic ideologies as the Taliban.
This is the first suicide bomb attack in Kabul since March when a man blew himself up at a Defense Ministry gate, which killed nine Afghans. That attack occurred while U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel visited the country.
The Hezb-e-Islami group claimed a suicide bomb attack last September, which also killed foreign workers.
