Suicide car bomb targeting U.S. convoy in Kabul kills 7, including 2 soldiers, officials say

(AP) A suicide car bomb struck a convoy of U.S. military vehicles in Kabul on Friday, killing at least seven people and wounding nine, police said. Two American soldiers were among the dead and two others among the wounded, the U.S. military said.

The blast, which took place near the U.S. Embassy in the Afghan capital, tore a military vehicle into two burning chunks and scattered debris and body parts over a 50-yard radius.

It rattled windows throughout the downtown area and sent a plume of brown smoke spiraling into the sky.

Mohammed Aslam, a Kabul police official at the scene, said he had seen seven bodies and nine wounded people. Two American soldiers were among those killed, and two were wounded, said U.S. military spokeswoman Lt. Tamara Lawrence.

The attack came days ahead of the fifth anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the U.S., which led the United States and its allies to invade Afghanistan later that year. The former Taliban regime was toppled for harboring al-Qaida terror network chief Osama bin Laden, who was blamed for masterminding the attacks.

The bombing also comes amid the deadliest spate of violence in Afghanistan since the Taliban's ouster, in which hundreds have been killed each month this year.

The explosion Friday took place about 50 yards from Kabul's landmark Massoud Square in Kabul, which abuts the main gate of the heavily fortified U.S. Embassy compound.

Dozens of U.S. and British soldiers cordoned off the scene as investigators sifted through the wreckage of the charred military vehicle.

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Associated Press Writer Matthew Pennington in Kabul contributed to this report.