Suicide attack kills 3 Nato soldiers in Afghan

KABUL: A suicide attack claimed by the Taliban killed three foreign soldiers on patrol in eastern Afghanistan yesterday, the deadliest assault on US-led Nato troops for many months.

“Three Resolute Support service members were killed by a suicide bomber during a combined, dismounted patrol with Afghan forces in eastern Afghanistan,” Nato’s Resolute Support mission said in a statement.

A US member of the patrol and two Afghan soldiers were wounded, it said, without giving the nationality of those killed.

“Resolute Support has a policy of never publishing the nationality of victims before it is made public by the relevant national authorities,” it said.

The attack by a lone bomber on foot happened at 6am in the city of Charikar in Parwan province 60 kilometres north of Kabul, said provincial governor’s spokesman Wahida Shahkar.

The Taliban in a statement claimed responsibility, saying they killed or wounded eight American soldiers in a “tactical explosion”.

The Nato force largely ended its combat mission in Afghanistan in 2014 and pulled out the bulk of its troops. A 16,000strong residual force remains for training and counter-terrorism operations.

Of these, the US accounts for 13,000 soldiers, about 2,000 of whom are assigned to anti-terror combat missions.

Last month a US soldier was killed and two others wounded in an “apparent insider attack” in southern Afghanistan. – AFP