KABUL — A suicide bomber on Saturday penetrated one of the Afghan capital's highest-security zones and detonated his explosives outside the walled headquarters of NATO-backed military forces, killing six civilians, officials said.
No foreign troops were among the dead, the military coalition said.
A NATO spokeswoman said the bomber was a teenager riding an explosives-laded motorbike, based on initial reports, but police told news channels that the attacker was on foot.
The bomber made his way past several checkpoints on the heavily guarded street, which is home to several Western interests, including the Italian Embassy. The street generally is closed to vehicles but open to pedestrians and motorcycles. Afghan children are common in the international zone, where they hawk scarves, trinkets, mobile phone cards and chewing gum to foreigners.
The bomber detonated about 1,000 feet from the headquarters of the International Security Assistance Force, the coalition comprised predominantly of U.S. troops. Officials told local news channels that the casualties included children, but the toll of the injured was not immediately known.
The bombing came as Afghans celebrated a national holiday that marks the Sept. 9, 2001, assassination of anti-Taliban commander Ahmad Shah Massoud, whom al Qaeda targeted just prior to its terror attacks on the United States.
The attack also came a day after the United States designated the Haqqani network as a foreign terrorist organization. The Haqqanis, based in Pakistan, have been behind several deadly attacks against U.S. and other Western interests in Kabul.
The Taliban took responsibility for the attack, and denied the bomber was a minor. The “martyrdom-seeking hero” was 28 and specifically targeted the offices of the CIA, Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said on Twitter.
In a phone interview from an undisclosed location, Mujahid said the attack was a response to the U.S. designation of the Taliban-allied Haqqani network as a foreign terrorist organization.
Mujahid also said the bomber was on foot.
A spokesman for the international security forces, Brig. Gen. Günter Katz, condemned the attack, calling the insurgents’s tactics “despicable,” especially given reports that the bomber was a teenager.
“By taking advantage of an impressionable child to carry out this attack, the insurgents display cowardice,” Katz said in a statement. “Attacks like these exploit vulnerable individuals, coercing them into committing horrible acts.”
No foreign troops were among the dead, the military coalition said.
A NATO spokeswoman said the bomber was a teenager riding an explosives-laded motorbike, based on initial reports, but police told news channels that the attacker was on foot.
The bomber made his way past several checkpoints on the heavily guarded street, which is home to several Western interests, including the Italian Embassy. The street generally is closed to vehicles but open to pedestrians and motorcycles. Afghan children are common in the international zone, where they hawk scarves, trinkets, mobile phone cards and chewing gum to foreigners.
The bomber detonated about 1,000 feet from the headquarters of the International Security Assistance Force, the coalition comprised predominantly of U.S. troops. Officials told local news channels that the casualties included children, but the toll of the injured was not immediately known.
The bombing came as Afghans celebrated a national holiday that marks the Sept. 9, 2001, assassination of anti-Taliban commander Ahmad Shah Massoud, whom al Qaeda targeted just prior to its terror attacks on the United States.
The attack also came a day after the United States designated the Haqqani network as a foreign terrorist organization. The Haqqanis, based in Pakistan, have been behind several deadly attacks against U.S. and other Western interests in Kabul.
The Taliban took responsibility for the attack, and denied the bomber was a minor. The “martyrdom-seeking hero” was 28 and specifically targeted the offices of the CIA, Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said on Twitter.
In a phone interview from an undisclosed location, Mujahid said the attack was a response to the U.S. designation of the Taliban-allied Haqqani network as a foreign terrorist organization.
Mujahid also said the bomber was on foot.
A spokesman for the international security forces, Brig. Gen. Günter Katz, condemned the attack, calling the insurgents’s tactics “despicable,” especially given reports that the bomber was a teenager.
“By taking advantage of an impressionable child to carry out this attack, the insurgents display cowardice,” Katz said in a statement. “Attacks like these exploit vulnerable individuals, coercing them into committing horrible acts.”