Suicide Bombing of NATO Convoy Kills 17

Blast is deadliest single attack against U.S.-led coalition since Aug. 6 chopper downing

U.S. soldiers gather by the bodies of bombing victims in Kabul, Afghanistan, on Saturday, Oct. 29, 2011. A Taliban suicide bomber rammed a vehicle loaded with explosives into an armored NATO bus on a busy thoroughfare in Kabul, killing 17 people, including a dozen Americans, in the deadliest strike against the U.S.-led coalition in the Afghan capital since the war began. (Photo credit: Ahmad Jamshid / AP)

October 29, 2011

KABUL, Afghanistan — A Taliban suicide bomber rammed a vehicle into an armored NATO bus Saturday, killing 17 people, including 12 Americans and a Canadian in the deadliest attack on the U.S.-led coalition in Kabul since the war began. It was a major setback for the alliance as it begins to draw down combat troops. …

NATO said five coalition service members and eight civilian contractors working for the coalition died in the explosion.

A U.S. official said all were Americans, but Canadian defense spokesman, Lt. Col. Christian Lemay, told The Associated Press that a Canadian soldier was among the troops killed. …

A similar Taliban attack targeted a NATO convoy on the same road in May 2010, when a suicide bomber struck a convoy, killing 18 people. Among the dead were five American troops and a Canadian colonel. But Saturday’s strike was the deadliest since the decade-long war began.

The Taliban said the bomber, Abdul Rahman, was driving a Toyota Land Cruiser SUV containing 1,540 pounds of explosives and targeting foreigners providing training for Afghan police. …

Full story

Video

10 Americans killed in Taliban attack (NBC Nightly News, Oct. 30, 2011) — In all, 17 people were killed, as an SUV packed with explosives rammed into a military armored bus on the streets of Afghanistan’s capital. NBC’s Atia Abawi reports. (01:52)

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Related reports on this site

Video

Kabul suicide bomb kills 18 (NBC Nightly News, May 18, 2010) — A Taliban suicide car bomber attacked a NATO-led military convoy during rush hour in the Afghan capital, killing 12 Afghan civilians and at least six NATO troops. (01:21)

Gunbattle Rages for Hours in Kabul, Afghanistan (Aug. 20, 2011)

NATO Returns Fire in Kabul Siege (June 28, 2011)

Suicide Bomber Strikes U.S. Convoy in Kabul, Killing 18 (May 19, 2010)

Taliban Strikes in Heart of Kabul (Feb. 26, 2010)

Taliban Siege Rattles Kabul (Jan. 19, 2010)

Afghan War Closes in on Kabul (Oct. 28, 2009)

NATO Headquarters in Afghanistan Attacked (Aug. 15, 2009)

Mumbai-Like Strike in Kabul (Feb. 12, 2009)

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3/27/12 Topical report

Bomb Plot Foiled: Cache of Suicide Vests Found in Afghan Defense Ministry

NBC News’ Cheryll Simpson via MSNBC.com
March 27, 2012

KABUL, Afghanistan — A number of Afghan national army soldiers have been arrested inside the country’s defense ministry over a foiled suicide bomb plot, officials told NBC News.

The soldiers were held on Monday afternoon along with 11 suicide bomb vests in a guard box in the building in the capital, Kabul, army officials said on Tuesday.

Afghan news web site Khaama also reported the arrests, saying the incident raises fresh concerns over infiltration of militants among the country’s Afghan security forces. …

The arrests came on the same day that at least three NATO service members were shot dead by Afghan security forces in two separate attacks.

A gunman wearing an Afghan army uniform killed two NATO troops in southern Afghanistan, while another was shot in eastern Afghanistan by an alleged member of the Afghan Local Police.

The attacks brought to 16 the number of NATO-led forces killed so far this year in what appeared to be attacks by members of Afghan forces.

Meanwhile, support for the war in Afghanistan has dropped sharply among both Republicans and Democrats, according to a New York Times/CBS News poll published Tuesday [March 27, 2012].

The survey found that more than two-thirds of those polled — 69 percent — thought that the United States should not be at war in Afghanistan, the New York Times reported.

Just four months ago, 53 percent said that Americans should no longer be fighting in the conflict, it said.

It added that the increased disillusionment was even more pronounced when respondents were asked their impressions of how the war was going. The poll found that 68 percent thought the fighting was going “somewhat badly” or “very badly,” compared with 42 percent who had those impressions in November [2011]. …

Full story

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FROM THE ARCHIVES

One Year Ago — October 30, 2010

Al-Qaida’s New Low-Intensity, High-Frequency Attack Strategy

One year ago today, I reported that investigators believed the same al-Qaida-affiliated group responsible for the Christmas Day underwear bomb were behind the PETN-based devices hidden in packages sent from Yemen.

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Two Years Ago — October 30, 2009

War on Terror Pakistan Blowback

Two years ago today, on October 30, 2009, I reported that U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, on her first official visit to Pakistan, faced sharp rebukes from Pakistani audiences brimming with resentment toward U.S. foreign policy, including one woman who accused the U.S. of conducting “executions without trial” in aerial drone strikes, equating it to terrorism.

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Three Years Ago — October 30, 2008

Taliban Mount Brazen Attack on Afghan Government Ministry

Three years ago today, on October 30, 2008, I featured reporting on a suicide bombing attack on the Afghan Ministry of Information and Culture targeting foreign advisers in Kabul, the downing of a U.S. helicopter in central Afghanistan, the killing of two U.S. soldiers in northern Afghanistan by a suicide bomber wearing a police uniform, and ongoing violence in Iraq.