Kabul: Latest in the series of terror attacks in Afghanistan, a British embassy convoy was targeted by a Taliban suicide bomber in Afghan capital Kabul, killing six including two UK embassy staff, one of them being a British national, reports said Thursday.
Condemning the attack as outrageous, UK Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond stated "This outrage brings home to us once again the courage and perseverance of the people of Afghanistan and members of the international community who support them".
Hammond said that two UK embassy staff were killed in the attack, one of them a British national civilian security team member and another being an Afghan national working for the embassy.
"I am deeply saddened to confirm that a British national civilian security team member and an Afghan national working for the embassy were killed," the AFP quoted Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond.
According to the BBC, the attack was carried out by a car bomber. Earlier Afghan Senior Deputy Interior Minister for Security Affairs General Ayub Salangi had said that the suicide bomber was riding a motorbike.
Other than 6 killed in the attack, the blast injured 30 - some of them embassy staff. However, most of those injured were bystanders, including five children.
"One British national was killed in today`s attack," the AFP quoted police spokesman Hashmat Stanakzai as saying.
The blast resounded across eastern parts of Kabul and a thick plume of smoke and dust was seen billowing up in the air. The responsibility for the attack has been claimed by the Taliban, which has of late intensified attacks in the nation as foreign troops are set to leave.
The targeting of a UK embassy vehicle comes just three days after two US soldiers were killed when NATO forces were attacked in Kabul.
The blast also comes just days after last batch of British troops left Afghanistan after ending their 13-year presence in the war-torn nation.
The increased attacks by Taliban pose a grave question mark on the fragile security situation as foreign troops are set to withdraw by the year end, that is, it's just a matter of weeks that the onus of maintaining the security of Afghanistan will completely be on the shoulders of its own security forces.
However, according to a Bilateral Security Agreement, over 12,000 NATO forces are set to remain here to train national troops.
