Roundup: Deadly car bomb strikes Kabul, kills 12, wounds 67

A deadly car bomb rocked Macrorayon locality in downtown Kabul on Saturday leaving 12 people including foreigners dead and injuring 67 others, said spokesman for Public Health Ministry, Aziz Kawusi. "The hospitals have received 12 dead bodies and 67 others injured,"Kawusi told Xinhua.

He made the remarks after a suicide car bomb that rocked Macrorayon locality in downtown Kabul.

Earlier, Kabul police chief Abdul Rahman Rahimi in talks with journalists at the site of the blast confirmed five dead and 38 injured but added the casualties may rise.

The attacker is also among those killed in the bombing, he added.

Meantime, a security official on the condition of anonymity said that the blast took place when a convoy of foreigners was passing the area.

Xinhua reporter at the site of the deadly bombing saw that women and children are also among the casualties.

This is the fourth suicide bombing shocking Kabul over the past couple of weeks.

In Saturday's bombing, according to eye witness, Ahmad Reshad, at least 10 cars were badly damaged and the windowpanes of private hospital the Shinozad clinic and houses and apartments around were smashed.

The blast took place at around 04:15 p.m. local time when the government employees were returning their homes.

Although no group or individuals have claimed responsibility for the bombing, locals as well as officials at the site of the blast pointing finger at the Taliban militants.

Kabul police chief Rahimi blamed the enemies of peace, a reference to the Taliban militants for organizing the bloody bombing. "No doubt, Taliban insurgents are behind the attack,"eye witness Reshad told Xinhua, adding since the victims are civilians, Taliban may not claim responsibility.

Meanwhile, NATO-led Resolute Support (RS) mission in Kabul on Saturday confirmed the deaths of three contractors of the alliances, all civilians. "We can confirm an attack on a convoy of Resolute Support contracted civilians in Kabul at approximately 4:20 p.m. Aug. 22. One Resolute Support contracted civilian was killed in the attack and two others died of wounds as a result of the attack," a statement of the alliance released here said.

Without providing more details, it said "We are gathering further information."

Taliban-led insurgency has gotten momentum since April 24 when the armed group launched its so-called spring offensive in the militancy-plagued Afghanistan. Endi