Suicide Bombing of U.S. Military Convoy in Kabul Kills 8 Afghans<br />By MUJIB MASHAL and FAHIM ABEDMAY 3, 2017<br />KABUL, Afghanistan — At least eight Afghan civilians were killed<br />and three American soldiers wounded on Wednesday when a suicide bomber attacked an American military convoy during the morning rush hour in Kabul, officials said.<br />In announcing Operation Mansouri, named after their former supreme leader, Mullah Akhtar Muhammad Mansour, who was killed in an American drone strike in Pakistan, the Taliban<br />vowed to take control of more territory through "conventional attacks, guerrilla warfare, complex martyrdom attacks, insider attacks" and the use of homemade bombs.<br />The group, largely made up of former members of the Pakistani<br />and Afghan Taliban, has carried out multiple deadly attacks in Kabul and continues to have a presence in eastern Afghanistan, where Afghan and American soldiers are currently carrying out an operation against them.<br />Compared with last year, that is a 2 percent decline in civilian deaths, but a 5 percent increase in injuries, the United Nations said last week.<br />But the Taliban still remain Afghanistan’s largest security concern,<br />and the attack comes amid fears of escalating violence as the resurgent group has begun another spring offensive.<br />The explosion happened around the corner from one of the entrances of the heavily guarded United States<br />Embassy at the center of the Afghan capital, as a convoy of American soldiers passed through.
