Suicide blast near Kabul airport, 16 injured, casualties feared: official

Kabul, May 17: A suicide bomber today detonated an explosives-packed car near Kabul's international airport, wounding at least 16 civilians in an attack that may have been aimed at vehicles of the European Union Police Mission in Afghanistan, officials said.

The bombing happened inside the major checkpoint leading into the airport early this morning, said Najib Danish, the deputy spokesman for the Interior Ministry.

He said the car bomb was detonated near the office of the Afghan Civil Aviation Authority, which is a few hundred meters (yards) from the airport terminal.

"We believe our vehicles were involved," Sari Haukka- Konu, a spokeswoman for EUPOL, told The Associated Press.

She had no other details. Danish said that one foreign vehicle and two civilian vehicles were damaged in the blast.

No one has claimed responsibility. The Taliban, which have waged war in Afghanistan for more than a decade, launched their warm weather offensive in late April.

The insurgents claimed responsibility for an attack on a Kabul guesthouse last week that left 14 people dead, including four Indians and five other foreigners.

AP