Suicide attack on Afghan security forces in Kabul

KABUL, Dec 11 (AFP): At least 12 people were killed and another six injured after a suicide bomber targeted a convoy of security forces in Kabul early on Tuesday, officials said, in the latest bloody Taliban-claimed attack in the Afghan capital.

The blast took place in Paghman district in western Kabul as the convoy was returning from an overnight operation, interior ministry spokesman Najib Danish told AFP.

"It is still not clear whether the attacker was on foot or driving a vehicle," the spokesman added.

Another security official requesting anonymity said the assailant had used a car bomb to target the convoy.

Attacks on Afghan forces by the Taliban and the Islamic State group have been inflicting record-high casualties on security personnel this year.

Afghan security forces, beset by killings and desertions, have been struggling to beat back insurgents since US-led NATO mostly left them on their own three years ago.

In November President Ashraf Ghani said nearly 30,000 Afghan soldiers and police officers have been killed since 2015 - a figure far higher than anything previously acknowledged.