Suicide bomb kills 3 NATO troops in Afghanistan
U.S. troops keep watch at site of suicide attack blast in Kabul, Afghanistan on September 16, 2014 REUTERS
Last Updated Sep 16, 2014 8:56 AM EDT
KABUL, Afghanistan -- A Taliban attacker detonated his car bomb next to an international military convoy on Tuesday, killing three troops from the NATO-led force and wounding nearly 20 troops and civilians, officials said.
U.S. defense sources confirmed to CBS News' David Martin that at least one of those killed was an American citizen, but they could not confirm whether the casualty was military or civilian.
Security forces in full battle gear administered CPR to wounded comrades shortly after the 8:10 a.m. blast, which rattled nearby neighborhoods and sent a plume of smoke high into the sky. The attack happened only a couple hundred yards from the U.S. Embassy, on a main Kabul road that leads to the airport.
The statement from the military coalition fighting in Afghanistan, known as ISAF, said five troops were wounded in addition to the three killed. It did not say which nationalities the troops were, but CBS News' Elizabeth Palmer says the Polish mission confirmed one of those killed as a soldier from Poland.
The blast struck near a U.S. military base called the New Kabul Compound, which is close to the embassy and the Afghan Supreme Court, reports CBS News' Ahmad Mukhtar.
Kabul police spokesman Hashmatullah Stanikzai told CBS News that 13 civilians were wounded in the attack and 18 vehicles were damaged.
Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said the group was responsible for the attack in a statement sent to media outlets.
An Afghan official at the ministry of interior said that one Afghan translator who was with the ISAF troops at the time was also among those killed.
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Suicide bomb kills 3 NATO troops in Afghanistan