3 US Contractors Killed in Kabul Car Bomb

A suicide car bomber attacked a NATO convoy traveling through a crowded neighborhood in Afghanistan's capital today, killing at least 12 people, including three American contractors. Early reports had another 70 or so injured. The Taliban quickly denied it was behind in the attack in Kabul's Macrorayan neighborhood, though the militants increasingly have been targeting Kabul in recent weeks and often don't claim attacks that maim large numbers of civilians. The attack struck near the private Shinozada hospital, the sound of the powerful blast roaring throughout the capital. The victims haven't been identified.

The blast struck as schools were letting out for the day in Macrorayan, a Soviet-built housing estate lined with shops, hospitals and schools. Najib Danish, a deputy Interior Ministry spokesman, said the attack destroyed more than a dozen civilian vehicles parked in the street and passing by. At least one armored vehicle in the convoy had been destroyed by the blast. (More Afghanistan stories.)