Taliban car bomber targets NATO convoy in Kabul

The early morning attack comes amid a worsening security situation in Afghanistan as the Taliban step up their nationwide offensive. “The bombing occurred near Kabul airport. We are finding out more details,” Gul Agha Rohani, Kabul deputy police chief told AFP. Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said the insurgents were behind the suicide attack on a foreign forces convoy, claiming that “several invading forces were killed and wounded”. The Taliban are known to exaggerate battlefield claims. Afghan forces are currently battling to push out Taliban insurgents who seized large swathes of the key opium-rich district of Sangin in southern Helmand province.  The offensive has prompted the first British deployment to the volatile province in 14 months. Recently, US special forces arrived in the region, roughly a year after NATO forces formally ended their combat operations in the country. There is widespread perception that foreign powers are increasingly being drawn back into the conflict as Afghan forces struggle to rein in the Taliban.