Kabul bomb wounds three, 33 rebels killed

US soldiers keep watch near the site of a blast in Kabul. — AFP

KABUL A bomb blast in the Afghan capital Wednesday wounded three people, the government said, as the Nato-led military announced it had killed 33 rebels.The bomb was planted outside a petrol station in a western suburb of the city and wounded three civilian passers-by, the interior ministry said. Many attacks in Afghanistan's Taliban-led insurgency cause little damage but rebels have in recent years been able to pull off several major strikes that officials say points to their growing capability. In a statement late Tuesday, Nato’s International Security Assistance Force said troops clashed with militants on Saturday in Kapisa province, northeast of Kabul, and an assessment of the battle was ongoing. ‘As of March 16, an estimated total of 29 enemy dead and 12 wounded have been reported,’ ISAF said. The French military announced Saturday that one of its soldiers was killed in the same clash. ISAF also said it had killed two ‘prominent’ wanted insurgents and two of their associates in the southern province of Helmand on Monday.One of them, Jamaluddin Hanifi, had been involved in several bombings and ambushes in the Naw Zad district, it said. The Taliban were in government in Afghanistan between 1996 and 2001. Their insurgency has picked up intensity in the past three years with 2008 being the deadliest since the 2001 US-led invasion, according to officials.