Nato loses three soldiers in Kabul suicide attack
Afghan national rugby team captain Sayed Mustafa Sadat, 27, runs with a victim of a suicide attack in his arms to a hospital in Kabul Tuesday. Sadat, who was returning from rugby training when the attack occurred, left his car near the scene and ran to help victims in the aftermath of the bombing. PHOTO AFP
KABUL, Tuesday
A Taliban suicide bomber rammed an explosives-laden car into a Nato convoy in Kabul Tuesday, triggering a massive blast that killed two Americans and one Polish soldier as well as wounding at least 13 civilians.
Nato troops gave first-aid to bloodstained comrades beside the wrecked remains of a military vehicle that was thrown to the side of the road, while city residents carried injured Afghans to hospital.
The attack was mounted during morning rush-hour traffic outside the Supreme Court and near the heavily-fortified US embassy, on a route used by Nato convoys every day. A defence official in Washington confirmed two Americans had died but did not specify if they were soldiers or civilians, while an army spokesman in Warsaw said one Polish soldier had been killed.
One of the first people on the scene was Sayed Mustafa Saadat, 27, captain of the Afghan national rugby team, who was returning from an early morning training session.
“I rushed to help survivors. I picked up a local man who had a broken leg and was badly burnt,” he told AFP. “I carried him all the way to the hospital, running. It took about 10 minutes, but I don’t know if he survived.” Kabul police spokesman Hashmat Stanakzai said at least 13 civilians were wounded and 17 cars were damaged by the suicide car bomb that shook buildings and sent a plume of smoke high above the city. (AFP)
