Briton among 3 killed, 18 hurt in suicide bombing near Kabul airport

Reporting from Kabul, Afghanistan  — A Taliban-claimed suicide bombing near Kabul’s international airport has left at least three people dead and an additional 18 injured.

The European Union Police Mission in Afghanistan later confirmed that a private contractor working with the organization was killed in the Sunday-morning blast. Two mission staff members were injured.

The slain contractor was a British national, according to the British Embassy in Kabul. The Afghan Interior Ministry said two Afghan women were killed, while eight women and three children were among the injured.

In a statement, Zabihullah Mujahid, a Taliban spokesman, said a suicide bomber targeted a “foreign convoy” near Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul. The group claimed the incident as part of its so-called spring offensive, which sees the nation’s largest armed opposition movement increase its activities in the warmer months.

The blast came days after the Taliban claimed responsibility for an attack in which a gunman shot and killed 14 people, including five Afghans and an American, at a hotel and guesthouse in Kabul.

“This is the second attack in a matter of days for which the Taliban have claimed responsibility and I strongly condemn their cowardly actions,” British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond said in a statement.

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani condemned the attack in a Twitter statement, saying his government “will use every legitimate force against those who target innocent lives, including women and children.”

Latifi is a special correspondent. Times staff writer Shashank Bengali in Mumbai, India contributed to this report.

Follow @SBengali on Twitter for news out of South Asia