Nepalese guards killed in Kabul

Taliban bomber attacks minibus; 10 civilians die in market

KABUL, Afghanistan — A Taliban suicide bomber killed 14 Nepalese security guards in an attack Monday on their minibus in the Afghan capital, the Interior Ministry and an Afghan security official said.

Elsewhere in Afghanistan, a bomb rigged to a motorbike killed 10 Afghan civilians during morning rush hour in a busy market. A second Taliban bombing in Kabul killed an Afghan civilian and wounded five people, including a provincial council member who was the intended target of that attack.

The Nepalese were on their way to the Canadian Embassy, where they work as guards, when the explosion took place on Monday morning, according to a Nepalese guard who was wounded in the attack.

Canadian Foreign Minister Stephane Dion condemned the attacks, including the one that killed the security guards.

“Many of the victims have been part of our embassy family for years, and they will be remembered for their service in the protection of the men and women at the Embassy of Canada to Afghanistan,” Dion said.

The Taliban have stepped up attacks as part of their summer offensive.

The bomber who killed the Nepalese was on foot when he struck the minibus, said Gen. Abdul Rahman Rahimi, Kabul’s police chief. He did not identify the foreign security company the guards work for.