A Taliban suicide bomber targeted a NATO convoy in downtown Kabul on Sunday, triggering a powerful explosion in a rush-hour attack that comes just days after the resurgent militant group overran a key northern city.
The capture of the provincial capital for three days marked a stinging blow for Western-trained Afghan forces, who have largely been fighting on their own since the end of NATO's combat mission in December.
The militants overran the strategic northern city of Kunduz in late September, in their most spectacular victory in 14 years.
The Taliban, toppled from power in a 2001 US-led invasion of Afghanistan, are known to exaggerate battlefield claims. The emboldened insurgents have stepped up attacks around Afghanistan since they launched their annual summer offensive in late
'A convoy of foreign forces came under martyrdom attack by our mujahideen in Joy Shir area of Kabul city. Two of their vehicles were damaged and all aboard the vehicles were killed,' he said.
The Taliban were behind the bombing, the group's spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid told AFP.
Interior ministry spokesman Sediq Sediqqi said there was no word so far on any casualties. A NATO spokesman in Kabul confirmed that their convoy came under attack but said the international coalition was still gathering further information.
'The explosion occurred in the Joy Shir area of Kabul city. It was a suicide attack targeting a foreign forces convoy,' Kabul police spokesman Ebadullah Karimi told AFP.
Security officials cordoned off the area as ambulances with wailing sirens rushed to the scene, which was littered with the mangled wreckage of vehicles, according to an AFP photographer.
No casualties were immediately reported from the bombing, which sent a thick plume of smoke rising into the sky, as the Taliban ramp up attacks on government and foreign targets.
Taliban suicide bomber targets NATO convoy in downtown Kabul