By Jerome Starkey in Lashkar Gah
A MASSIVE car bomb on one of Kabul’s busiest roads killed a foreign soldier and nine civilians yesterday, after rockets rained down on the president’s palace less than 48 hours before landmark elections.
The Taleban have ramped up attacks on the capital this month as part of a countrywide campaign to undermine the polls, which are the pinnacle of western efforts to build a peaceful democracy.
Two Afghans working for the United Nations were killed in the blast and at least 55 people were injured, including two foreign soldiers.
Nato officials refused to confirm the dead and injured soldiers’ nationality until their next of kin have been informed.
Earlier in the day, two rockets hit the city. One hit the presidential palace and another hit the police headquarters. Further east, two American soldiers were killed by an explosion and at least ten people were injured when a volley of rockets hit a residential district in Jalallabad. The attacks came the same day that Nato’s International Security Assistance Force agreed to halt “offensive operations” on polling day.
The announcement followed government plans for a 24-hour ceasefire on Thursday. (Read more)
