A Taliban suicide blast in the center of Kabul killed at least 10 civilians and two NATO soldiers on Thursday, destroying cars and shops in an area near the headquarters of Afghanistan's international military force and the US embassy.
The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack even as the insurgents and US officials have been negotiating a deal on a US troop withdrawal in exchange for Taliban security guarantees.
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"At least 10 civilians have been killed and 42 injured were taken to hospitals," said Nasrat Rahimi, a spokesman for the interior ministry. The NATO-led Resolute Support mission said in a statement that a Romanian and a US member of the force were killed in action in Kabul. It did not provide any more details.
A senior Afghan interior ministry official said the two soldiers were killed in the suicide bomb attack and their vehicle was the main target.
The death of the US service member brings the number of American troops killed in Afghanistan this year to 16, including three last month. Several cars and small shops were torn apart by the blast at a checkpoint on a road near the NATO office and US embassy. Police cordoned off the area.
Witnesses said the suicide bomber blew himself up as people were standing nearby or crossing the road.
There has been no let-up in violence in Afghanistan even though both the Taliban and US officials have reported progress in negotiations aimed at securing a deal on US withdrawal.
Afghan President Ashraf Ghani accepted the resignation of the head of Afghanistan's powerful security agency NDS on Thursday over a separate incident overnight in the eastern city of Jalalabad. The NDS had said it killed four men suspected of ties to Islamic State, but some local officials reported that four brothers with no ties to terrorists had been killed.
Rahimi, the interior ministry spokesman, said government forces killed a senior Taliban commander, more than 20 fighters and the man the hardline insurgent group planned to impose as regional governor, in another clash on Thursday in central Maidan Wardak province.
And in the eastern province of Loghar, Taliban fighters said they detonated a car bomb near a security meeting. Government officials said four civilians were killed.
On Monday, a Taliban suicide truck bomber attacked a compound used by international organizations in Kabul, killing at least 16 people and wounding more than 100. A Romanian was among those killed and one was seriously wounded in the attack on the compound, known as the Green Village.
The Taliban now controls more territory than it has since 2001 when the United States launched a military operation against the group for harboring the al-Qaida operatives responsible for the 9/11 attacks.
There are some 14,000 US troops in Afghanistan. Despite ending their combat role in 2014, an estimated 20,000 US and NATO troops remain in the country to train, advise and assist Afghan forces.
Khalilzad is expected to meet Afghan and NATO officials to explain the draft agreement, which still must be approved by US President Donald Trump before it can be signed.
