Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Seven people are dead after a suicide bomber attacked a convoy of Western soldiers in Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan on Tuesday. Over fifty other people were injured in the explosion.

Security officials say the bomber drove his vehicle into the convoy on the Jalalabad road, which is notorious for being the scene of frequent attacks by the Taleban.

“I saw wounded people and dead people everywhere,” a shopkeeper named Sawad told the Reuters news agency. “I helped some people to ambulances, their clothes were covered in blood stains.”

Two Afghan staff from the United Nations are feared to be among the casualties from the attack. “I am shocked and greatly saddened to have learned that two of my staff members were among those killed in today’s suicide bombing,” said Kai Eide, the special representative for the UN.

The violence comes before Thursday’s presidential election, which militants have promised to disrupt. Afghanistan president Hamid Karzai has said the attacks wouldn’t deter citizens from voting, who would cast their ballots “despite the efforts of the enemies and will show their opposition to their barbaric acts.”