Suicide blast kills 11, wounds 70 more in E Afghanistan

KABUL, Nov. 13 (Xinhua) -- A suicide car bombing against the convoy of U.S.-led Coalition forces in Afghanistan's eastern Nangarhar province Thursday morning left at least one Coalition soldier and ten local civilians dead and more than 70 others wounded, officials said.

"The incident occurred at 7:40 a.m. local time (0310 GMT) when a man driving an explosive-laden car detonated it next to a convoy of the Coalition on Jalalabad-Torkham highway killing seven on the spot, all of them civilians," provincial police chief Syed Abdul Ghafar told media.

"More than 70 people were also wounded by the blast in which the bomber used at Toyota Corolla car," he added.

Coalition forces confirmed the incident in a statement released later the day saying that one U.S. service member and ten Afghan civilians were killed when a suicide bomber on Thursday entered a meat market area and detonated the bomb in Bati Kot district of Nangarhar province.

"The Afghan National Police have secured the scene, and are providing assistance for casualties," it added.

It is the second car bomb blast in the past 24 hours. The previous one which rattled southern Kandahar city on Wednesday left six persons dead and injured over 42 others.

Taliban militants fighting Afghan and international troops based in the war-torn nation have claimed responsibility for both the attacks.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai blamed the bloodshed carried by the radical Taliban movement as "coward activities against Afghan people."

UN deputy special representative for Afghanistan Chris Alexander condemned the attacks inflicting civilian casualties saying "insurgent and anti-government groups bear responsibility for ensuring civilians are kept out of harm's way."

"We call for an end to this cycle of senseless violence," said the statement issued by UN here.

Moreover, two soldiers with the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) were killed Wednesday in an explosion in southern Afghanistan, said an ISAF statement on Thursday.

Meanwhile, British Defense Ministry confirmed that two British Royal Marines have been killed in an explosion in southern Afghan province of Helmand on Wednesday when their vehicle was struck by an explosive device.

Spiraling conflicts and Taliban-linked insurgency have claimed over 5,000 people with more than 1500 civilians so far this year in strife-torn Afghanistan while Taliban insurgents have vowed to intensify assaults against interests of Afghan government and international troops before the coming winter.