KABUL, Afghanistan — A maze of checkpoints and blast barriers failed to stop a suicide car bomber from setting off a thunderous blast Saturday in a heavily guarded part of Kabul, killing a U.S. soldier and at least four Afghan civilians.
Six American service members and a U.S. civilian were among at least 30 people injured in the rush-hour explosion on a street in the heart of the capital that runs between the German Embassy and an American base.
Hours later, a suicide bomber struck a NATO military convoy in the eastern province of Nangarhar, killing an Afghan civilian, Western military officials said.
Also Saturday, a U.S. serviceman was killed in a Chinook helicopter’s hard landing in Kunar province, in eastern Afghanistan.
It was not immediately clear whether the craft was shot down, although the U.S. military acknowledged insurgent fire in the area at the time.
A Taliban spokesman claimed responsibility for the Kabul explosion, saying German diplomats and military personnel were the target. The blast shook the walled embassy compound, shattering windows and sending debris flying. An undisclosed number of people inside were hurt, German authorities said.
The Islamic insurgents sometimes try to exploit differences of opinion within the Western military alliance by targeting personnel from countries where public support for the Afghan mission is flagging. Germany generally takes one of the more cautious approaches to the fighting here, with many caveats attached to how and where it deploys its troops.
For Kabul residents, the blast underscored a persistent sense of insecurity, although the number of attacks in the capital has dropped in recent months. Snow and winds had kept many people indoors for the past several days, but Saturday, the skies had brightened, and the street where the attack took place was full of motorists and pedestrians.
“Militants . . . do not care who or what they target — this was a well-traveled civilian road,” said Col. Jerry O’Hara, a spokesman for U.S. forces in Afghanistan. “This incident will only strengthen our collective resolve to aggressively pursue enemy networks before they can hurt innocent Afghans and coalition forces.”
