Suicide blast targets foreigners' compound in Kabul

A Taliban suicide car bomb exploded today close to a compound that houses many international contractors, officials said, the latest in a series of explosions to rock the Afghan capital in recent days.
Police were unable to give details of possible casualties after the blast near the "Green Village" compound, a large fortified complex where many foreign employees live and work.
"A suicide car bomber has targeted the Green Village camp," Najib Danish, deputy spokesman for the interior ministry, said. "We have no more details available now."
An AFP photographer said gunfire erupted shortly after the blast as security forces rushed to the scene in the east of the city.

Kabul has been hit by regular suicide attacks in recent years, often against US-led military forces who have been fighting Taliban insurgents since 2001.
The NATO force is ending its war next month and pulling out, though about 12,500 troops will remain to support the Afghan army and police now responsible for security nationwide.

Today's attack was claimed by the Taliban via a recognised Twitter account that said: "A car bomb targeted Green Village, on(e) of the most secure areas of foreigners."
Yesterday, a Taliban suicide truck bomb struck at the entrance of another foreign-run compound in Kabul, killing two Afghan guards.

On Sunday Afghan lawmaker Shukria Barakzai escaped a suicide blast in Kabul as she drove in a convoy near parliament. Three civilians died in that attack.
The Green Village was attacked last year when a Taliban suicide bomber detonated an explosives-laden car near the compound entrance.
It was also hit in 2012 when seven people were killed after attackers dressed in burqas detonated a similar suicide car bomb.