At least 47 people have been killed in the three suicide attacks in Kabul, normally more peaceful and secure than the restive south.

The Afghan government and foreign troops are struggling to stop suicide attacks which sap faith in their ability to provide security and develop a country ravaged by 30 years of war.

“A routine convoy operation here in Kabul (on Saturday) was hit by a suicide, vehicle-born, improvised explosive device,” said US military spokesman Lieutenant-Commander Clint Larson. “One US soldier was injured in the attack. He has since died of his wounds.”

Two large, black Chevrolet four-wheel drive vehicles were hit by the blast. One of the vehicles lay on its side engulfed in flames, the other received minor damage.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack, part of their Nasrat (Victory) offensive during Ramadan.
Taliban fighters believe there will be more rewards in heaven for those killed for their cause during the holy month of fasting.

“It is very difficult to prevent such attacks,” the Interior Ministry’s Counter-Terrorism chief Abdulmanan Farahi told a news conference.

Afghan police and foreign forces have increased the number of checkpoints and patrols in Kabul to tackle the threat of suicide bombs, he said.  Most of the suicide bombers were foreigners, he said – either Arabs, Chechens or Pakistanis.

Khost bomb kills five
In a separate attack, five Afghan police were killed by a roadside bomb north of the eastern city of Khost, a provincial health official said. Three German soldiers and their Afghan translator were also wounded in a suicide attack in Kunduz province in the north on Friday, the provincial police chief said. Some 50 Taliban rebels, along with four commanders surrendered to government forces and had joined the reconciliation process in the province of Ghazni, southwest of Kabul, the provincial governor said. Ghazni, previously considered largely safe, has seen rising violence this year with Taliban insurgents kidnapping 23 South Koreans there in July. The Taliban killed two of the Koreans, but freed the other Koreans a month later. “I guarantee within one month, there won’t be any Taliban in Ghazni,” the governor told a handover ceremony.