Suicide bomber kills two civilians

AFGHANISTAN, A suicide car bomber ignited a huge blast Tuesday near two armored vehicles used by U.S.-led coalition troops in Kabul, killing at least two civilians and destroying the wall of a nearby house, witnesses and officials said.

The bomber damaged the armored vehicles, but none of the troops was injured, said Lt. Col. David Johnson, a coalition spokesman.

At least two civilians were killed in the blast, said Gen. Ali Shah Paktiawal, director of criminal investigations for the Kabul police, adding that the bomber, who was in a vehicle, also died.

Four other people, including two Pakistani road construction workers were wounded in the blast, said Dr. Mohammad Musa, from Kabul's Wazir Akbar Khan hospital.

U.S. and Afghan security forces raced to the scene, as broken glass and pieces of the bomber's vehicle littered the street in a neighborhood of the capital where many foreigners live. The body of one victim lay in the street.

U.S. soldiers were removing communications equipment from the wreckage. Militants have launched more than 130 suicide attacks this year - a record number. More than 6,000 people have died in insurgency-related violence in 2007, also a record, according to an AP tally of figures from Afghan and Western officials.

Suicide attacks frequently target international and Afghan security forces, but most of the casualties are civilian passers-by.

Kabul, Tuesday, AP