"Explosion hits Afghan capital"

[ConsAreLiars]

A blast has occurred outside an army recruitment centre in the capital Kabul, police say.

Abdul Ghafar Sayedzada, the head of criminal investigations for the police in Kabul, told the Reuters news agency that Tuesday's explosion took place near the national parliament "but we have no more details".

Al Jazeera's Hoda Abdel-Hamid, reporting from Kabul, said the explosion was "very loud" and could have been caused by "a suicide bomb or a car bomb".

"The explosion happened outside an office belonging to the Afghan National Army recruitment centre, but we don't have any word yet on casualties," she said.

"Kabul has been largely spared this continuous low-level violence that plagues the rest of the country. The last time there was a large explosion here in the capitalwas about two months ago."

From: http://english.aljazeera.net/news/asia/2010/05/201051841929581336.html

The most recent coverage on AJE is of maybe 60 killed, and that the target may have been a convoy of foreign soldiers.

[AllentownJake]

1. This is turning out to be the disaster

Many of us suspected it would be.

You don't half ass war. 30,000 more troops is a fools errand. You either go all in or you get the fuck out.

[aquart]

3. Let's get the fuck out.

[AllentownJake]

4. That is my position

Another brilliant policy brought to you by the moderate pragmatic wing of the democratic party, half assing war.

Wake me up when an FDR comes along and kicks all these cowards wussy fuckers in the ass so hard they ask their private school teacher who raised them what happened.

[aquart]

6. Dropping troops into Afghanistan is like dropping golf balls into the Gulf spill.

Ask the Russians, if you can get them to stop laughing.

[AllentownJake]

7. They are enjoying a very long and hard laugh right now

Putin most wake up every morning with a smile.

[Adsos Letter]

2. K&R

[ConsAreLiars]

5. "Afghan Car Bombing Kills Up to 20 Civilians, Army Doctor Says" (Latest AJE report is 6, not 60)

Maybe the reporter misspoke or I misheard. This is from Bloomberg, 20 minutes ago.

By Eltaf Najafizada

May 18 (Bloomberg) -- A suicide car bombing in Kabul killed up to 20 civilians, Nesar Ahmad, a military doctor who helped evacuate dead and wounded, said in an interview near the scene of the attack in the Afghan capital.

The bomber targeted a U.S. military convoy near the center of the city, Ahmad said.

From: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?sid=aQtUewJj_PP0&pid=20601087

[ConsAreLiars]

8. "eight NATO soldiers and 20 civilians were killed outright"

Looks like 60 may be more close in terms of order of magnitude than 6. AJE now says 17.

Kabul Car Bomb Targets U.S. Convoy

By ALAN CULLISON

KABUL, Afghanistan—Dozens of people were killed Tuesday morning when a suicide car bomber targeted a U.S. military convoy outside a military recruitment center in Kabul, Afghan military officials said.

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization would not confirm the number of dead, but said that its soldiers had sealed off the area of the blast.

The bombing took place near a recruitment center as well as a joint U.S.-Afghan military base where military convoys are often moving on the road.

An Afghan military doctor at the scene said that eight NATO soldiers and 20 civilians were killed outright and that dozens were injured. The blast destroyed at least nine vehicles, one of them a civilian bus. The charred remains of the bus were resting near the road.
...

From: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703315404575251550415377756.html?mod=WSJ_latestheadlines