A suicide attack in the Afghan capital, Kabul, on Thursday
morning killed five people and wounded 33 others, including at least four
children, said Hashmat Stanikzai, a police spokesman said.
An
explosive-laden car was detonated as a foreign embassy convoy was
passing in the 9th District police zone, said Interior Ministry spokesman Sediq
Sediqi.
The UK
Foreign Office said two of those killed worked for the British Embassy.
One of
the dead was a British national, a civilian security team member, and the
second was an Afghan national working for the embassy, Foreign Secretary Philip
Hammond said in a statement.
A second
British member of the security team was injured, he said. Continue..
"I condemn this appalling
attack on innocent civilians supporting our diplomatic activity," Hammond
said.
"This
outrage brings home to us once again the courage and perseverance of the people
of Afghanistan and members of the international community who support them, who
have lived together through decades of conflict."
British
security firm G4S confirmed in a statement that the security workers caught up
in the blast were its staff and offered its condolences to their families and
friends.
"An
investigation into the incident is under way and therefore we are unable to
comment further at this time," it said. "Next of kin have been
informed and we will continue to provide them with support."
Police in
Kabul had earlier said that at least one British diplomat was killed after a
large explosion damaged a convoy of foreign embassy cars in the capital.
The
Taliban have claimed responsibility for the attack.
Pictures
from Mustafa Deveci, a witness at the scene, showed at least five vehicles
damaged at the site of the blast with their windows blown out.
In a
separate incident, armed insurgents attacked the office of a nonprofit
organization in Kabul late Thursday. Security forces killed two of the three
attackers, Stanikzai said.
A
Nepalese national was injured, the police spokesman said. The Taliban issued a
statement claiming responsibility for that attack, too.
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