Katherine Tiedemann: Daily brief: Taliban suicide blast in Kabul kills up to 4

Katherine Tiedemann: Daily brief: Taliban suicide blast in Kabul kills up to 4 -

The Taliban have claimed responsibility for a suicide attack on a busload full of employees of Afghanistan's intelligence service the NDS earlier this morning in Kabul, which killed at least four and wounded more than three dozen (Post, NYT, Pajhwok, BBC, AFP). It is the third bombing in Kabul in less than a month (Reuters). The Taliban also took credit for a remote controlled bombing in Kunar province that killed the NDS's deputy chief for the province today (NYT, Pajhwok).

Also in Kabul, the Afghan attorney general's office is launching an investigation into misconduct at the Kabul Bank, Afghanistan's largest, which nearly collapsed last year amid a corruption scandal and management changes (AP). In the southern province of Kandahar, an Afghan government delegation reportedly said yesterday that a recent coalition offensive in Arghandab, Zhari, and Panjwayi districts caused around $100 million worth of damage to fruit crops and homes (Reuters, AFP). A spokesman for Kandahar's governor said the Taliban had booby trapped the sites ahead of time so the coalition was forced to destroy them.

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