WORLD
3 DIE, 70 WOUNDED IN BLAST NEAR NATO HQ IN KABUL
Baku, August 15 (AZERTAC). A suicide car bomb exploded near the main gate of the NATO-led international military mission Saturday, killing three Afghans and wounding 70.
The pinpoint attack penetrated a heavily guarded neighborhood that also houses the U.S. Embassy and Afghan presidential palace just five days before Afghanistan`s nationwide elections.
Bloodied and dazed Afghans wandered the street after the blast, and children — many of whom congregate outside the NATO gate to sell gum to Westerners — were among the wounded. Windows of nearby antique shops were shattered and blood smeared the ground.
Gen. Mohammad Zahir Azimi, the spokesman for the Afghan Ministry of Defense, said three Afghan civilians were killed and 70 wounded in the blast. Capt. Elizabeth Mathias, a U.S. spokeswoman for the NATO-led mission, said the explosion occurred near the gate of NATO`s International Security Assistance Force. She had no immediate information on damage to the headquarters.