Kabul Suicide Attack Near Airport Kills 12

Twelve civilians including nine foreigners were killed in a suicide attack on the road near Kabul international airport on Tuesday morning.

The attack happened around 6:45AM local time when a suicide bomber crashed a car with explosives into a minivan carrying the foreigners on the main road leading to the airport, Kabul police chief Gen. Ayub Salangi told TOLOnews.

The Ministry of Interior released a statement at 1:35PM saying that 12 people were killed - three Afghan civilians and nine foreign civilians. Another 11 Afghans were wounded and are being treated at a local hospital.

The foreigners have since been confirmed as eight South Africans and one person from Kyrgyzstan.

Earlier, Kabul deputy police chief Daoud Amin told TOLOnews that the foreigners all appear to be employees of a private airline company and that two other Afghan security personnel were injured by the blast.

The militant Islamic group Hezb-e Islami of Gulbuddin Hekmatyar claimed responsibility for the attack saying it was in retaliation for the controversial US-produced movie insulting the Prophet Mohammad which has triggered protests in many Muslim countries.

Hezb-e-Islami said that the attack was carried out by a woman, but Salangi said that the bomber's gender was not yet confirmed.

The film "Innoncence of Muslims" has sparked angry protests among Muslims in numerous countries since a clip of it was put on the video sharing site YouTube last week.

In the Afghan capital on Monday hundreds of protestors grew violent as they demonstrated in the east of the city, burning cars and hurling rocks at security while chanting slogans such as "death to America" and "death to infidels".

Nearly 50 police were injured, Salangi said Monday.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai condemned the film last Wednesday in an emailed statement to media and the following day postponed a diplomatic trip to Norway in expectation of riots.

The Afghan government on Thursday ordered the country's internet providers to block YouTube to prevent citizens viewing a 14-minute clip of the film on the website. Most have complied and the ban is still in place.

To view footage of the bomb site, click here:

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