Nine dead in suicide attack on defence ministry, intended to mar Chuck Hagel's visit

[malaise]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/mar/09/taliban-suicide-bomber-afghan-kabul
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A Taliban suicide bomber has killed at least nine people in an attack on the ministry of defence in Kabul intended to mar the US defence secretary's first visit to Afghanistan.

Claiming responsibility for the attack, the Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said its aim was to prevent Chuck Hagel from using his visit to "say the Taliban are weak, and announce fake achievements [of coalition forces]".

Another 14 people were injured when the bomber, who was riding a bicycle, struck on a crowded stretch of road outside the main gate of the ministry just before 9am. Hours later a second suicide bomber killed eight children and a policeman who tried to intercept him, on a road in eastern Khost province, a stronghold of the Taliban-linked Haqqani network.

Hagel was in a briefing at a US military base at the time of the Kabul explosion. He later continued with a scheduled trip to the Bagram airbase, which lies north of the capital and is a hub for US forces.

The attack came shortly after the last-minute cancellation of a ceremony planned for the morning to mark the transfer of the last Afghan prisoners held by the US military into Afghan custody.