Suicide attack on foreign convoy kills Turkish soldier in Kabul

A Taliban suicide attack in Kabul has killed two people, including a Turkish soldier, highlighting the fragile security situation as the Afghan government presses for peace talks with the militants.
      
The blast came shortly after 8:00 am (0330 GMT), not far from the Iranian embassy. Police said the dead included a Turkish national and an Afghan passer-by.

Turkey's General Staff confirmed that a Turkish soldier was killed in the attack, while another one was injured.

   
Kabul police spokesman Hashmat Stanikzai gave details of the attack and death toll, saying the bomber was driving a Toyota Corolla.
      
Abdul Rahman Rahimi, Kabul police chief, confirmed the death toll in the blast, which the Taliban claimed.
      
"A suicide bomber blew himself up targeting a foreign convoy in central Kabul, a number of foreigners were killed in the attack," the militants said in a message.

Taliban's spokesperson Zabihullah Mujaheed told Turkey's semi-official Anadolu Agency that "an American vehicle passing through the street where the Turkish Embassy in Kabul is located was the target."

The area was cordoned off after the blast, which left debris strewn in the road and nearby blast walls spattered with blood.

Eyewitness Mohammad Yousuf, 17, described the moment the blast happened.
      
"The suicide bomber was in a Toyota sedan, he detonated himself causing a big bang, soon after the explosion everywhere were black smoke," he told AFP.

      
It is the first major attack in Kabul's heavily-secured centre since early January, when a suicide bomber hit a European Union police vehicle, killing a passer by.
      
More than 13 years after the Taliban were...