KABUL — A suicide bomber wearing a police uniform detonated an explosives-packed motorbike among a group of NATO and Afghan forces, killing three coalition soldiers and at least a dozen Afghans on Monday in the southeastern town of Khost, officials said.
Among the dead were four Afghan policemen, including the commander of a special unit called the Rapid Reaction Force, and an interpreter for the NATO-led force.
The Interior Ministry said dozens of people were wounded, many of them civilians.
The Afghan and NATO forces were on a foot patrol when the bomber struck in front of a bank in a crowded part of Khost, near the border with Pakistan, officials said. The radical Islamist Taliban movement claimed responsibility for the attack, part of the latest spate of violence in Afghanistan.
A local official speaking on condition of anonymity said the three dead NATO soldiers were Americans, who make up the bulk of the coalition force in Khost.
The attack came a day after two Americans — a soldier and a civilian contractor — were killed during an exchange of fire, apparently with Afghan forces. The clash, in which three Afghan troops also were killed, may have been the result of a misunderstanding, officials said.
The exchange of fire Sunday brought the U.S. death toll in the 11-year war to more than 2,000. At least 52 foreign troops have been killed this year in so-called “insider attacks” by rogue Afghan forces.
Among the dead were four Afghan policemen, including the commander of a special unit called the Rapid Reaction Force, and an interpreter for the NATO-led force.
The Interior Ministry said dozens of people were wounded, many of them civilians.
The Afghan and NATO forces were on a foot patrol when the bomber struck in front of a bank in a crowded part of Khost, near the border with Pakistan, officials said. The radical Islamist Taliban movement claimed responsibility for the attack, part of the latest spate of violence in Afghanistan.
A local official speaking on condition of anonymity said the three dead NATO soldiers were Americans, who make up the bulk of the coalition force in Khost.
The attack came a day after two Americans — a soldier and a civilian contractor — were killed during an exchange of fire, apparently with Afghan forces. The clash, in which three Afghan troops also were killed, may have been the result of a misunderstanding, officials said.
The exchange of fire Sunday brought the U.S. death toll in the 11-year war to more than 2,000. At least 52 foreign troops have been killed this year in so-called “insider attacks” by rogue Afghan forces.