/ 24 November 2007

Six schoolchildren die in Kabul suicide blast

A suicide bomb on the outskirts of the Afghan capital, Kabul, on Saturday killed six schoolchildren and wounded three Italians working on an aid project building a bridge, an Interior Ministry spokesperson said.

”It was a suicide bomber … six schoolchildren coming out from school were killed,” said Zemarai Bashary.

A senior police official also said the Italians were civilians and not connected with the military.

”The Italians were working on a bridge and many people gathered at the site when a suicide bomber blew himself up, killing six people and wounding nine others,” said Ali Shah Paktiawal, the head of criminal investigation of Kabul police.

A spokesperson for the Nato-led International Security Assistance Force (Isaf) said he was aware of an incident in the capital involving Isaf forces, but could not provide any further details.

The hard-line Islamist Taliban have killed at least 200 civilians in more than 140 suicide attacks so far this year in its campaign to oust the pro-Western Afghan government and eject the more than 50 000 foreign troops from the country. — Reuters