15 Killed, 40 Wounded in Afghan Suicide Bombing
'Pakistan Times' Foreign Desk

KABUL (Afghanistan): A suicide bomber blew himself up in a town in eastern Afghanistan Sunday, killing at least 14 people and injuring 40 in the second such attack claimed by the Taliban in two days.

The attacker struck at a busy market and bus stop in the town of Gardez, 100 kilometres (60 miles) south of Kabul.

Most of the suicide bombings in the country are aimed at Afghan and foreign military forces. A witness named Sorat Khan said from the site of the explosion that a military vehicle of the international forces in Afghanistan passed through the area minutes before the bombing.

"When it had gone, the explosion took place," Khan said.

NATO's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said however its soldiers were not involved. The US-led coalition could not be reached.

Three German soldiers with the ISAF force were killed and two wounded on Saturday when a suicide attacker, also on foot, blew himself up in a busy bazaar in the northern town of Kunduz.

It was the deadliest incident involving the German deployment to Afghanistan since 2003 when four German soldiers were killed in a suicide bombing in Kabul.

"These treacherous murders fill us with horror and terror," German Chancellor Angela Merkel said.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai said in a statement: "The enemies of Afghanistan must understand that they will never be able to hamper the progress of Afghanistan with their acts of cowardice."●