Taliban Suicide Attack On NATO Convoy Kills At Least 12 And Injures Dozens

UPDATE, 3:05 p.m. EDT: The Taliban denied the group was behind or involved in Saturday's attack in Kabul that killed 14 people and left 60 others wounded, CBS News Kabul-based correspondent Ahmad Mukhtar reported on Twitter. "We are investigating who carried out the attack," he quoted the group as saying.

Original story below.

NATO confirmed that a suicide bomber who attacked one of its convoys as it traveled through a neighborhood in Afghanistan’s capital of Kabul Saturday killed 10 people, including three civilian contractors. Initial reports indicated the car bombing took place near the private Shinozada hospital in the capital’s Macrorayan area and injured more than 60 people, according to the Associated Press.

However, conflicting reports by Afghan officials suggested the number of dead could be as many as 12. “Twelve dead bodies and 66 wounded people were taken to several Kabul hospitals,” Reuters quoted health official Kabir Amiry as saying. “Some were in a bad condition.”

U.S. Army Col. Brian Tribus, a NATO representative, confirmed the deaths of the three contractors and seven Afghan civilians, but offered no other details about the attack.

Conflicting reports are common in the aftermath of such attacks.

Danish Najib, an Afghan interior ministry representative, said the blast destroyed more than a dozen civilian vehicles, while Reuters reported it also destroyed a nearby school. A few minutes after the explosion, American and British troops arrived at the scene to to investigate the attack and offer security services.

While no group has claimed responsibility for the bombing, the Taliban has increased attacks on government and NATO infrastructure in Kabul since the U.S.-led mission in the country concluded after more than 13 years of war last year. The Taliban began its offensive in April.

This month, a group of Taliban militants attacked a NATO convoy close to the Kabul International Airport, killing an American soldier and eight Afghan contractors. That followed an attack in July when a group of Taliban militants took up positions in a building near Afghanistan’s intelligence ministry. No deaths or injuries were reported as a result of the intense standoff that ended after the deployment of special forces.