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Car bomb attack outside Kabul airport

(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-09-08 13:50

Afghan policemen keep watch on a road in Kabul September 7, 2009. [Agencies]

KABUL: A car bomb exploded near the entrance to the military airport in Afghanistan's capital early Tuesday, police said. The blast rattled windows more than a mile away.

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The attack appeared to be aimed at an international convoy, said Rohullah, a police official for the area who like many Afghans goes by one name.

A witness said he saw the car ram into a line of SUVs.

"I saw three or four Landcruisers for the foreigners just in front of the gate ... then there was a car and it hit them then blew up," said Humayun, who watched the attack from his nearby shop.

There were no official casualty figures, but an Associated Press reporter at the site saw two people carried to ambulances, and Humayun said he saw three injured people being carried away.

The blast occurred about 8:22 am local time and the air was still thick with smoke about an hour later. Fire trucks ringed the area.

US forces spokesman Lt. Col. Todd Vician confirmed an explosion south of the airport, but said he did not yet have further details.

Insurgent attacks, often deadly, occur in Kabul despite tight security and blast walls. Suicide bombers have hit government buildings and gunmen have overrun ministries.

NATO said that two militants fired a rocket-propelled grenade at the rear gate of Camp Phoenix outside Kabul late Monday, but there were no injuries to anyone inside and no damage to the base. Afghan police said the two militants were killed.

In the runup to August 20 elections, a suicide attack near the main gate of NATO headquarters killed seven people, gunmen briefly took over a bank in the city, and insurgents fired on the presidential palace and unleashed suicide car bombers on NATO convoys.