Blast near Kabul airport kills 3, injures 18

At least three people, including a foreign national, have been killed and 18 others wounded in a powerful bomb explosion in an area near the international airport in the Afghan capital, Kabul.

According to reports, the Sunday attack near the Hamid Karzai International Airport claimed the lives of two women and a foreign staffer with the European Union Police Mission in Afghanistan (EUPOL).

The target of the attack was reportedly a convoy of foreign forces.

No group or individual has yet claimed responsibility for the attack.

The incident near the Kabul airport comes days after Taliban militants attacked a guesthouse in the capital, killing 14 people, including nine foreigners.

The Taliban launched their annual spring offensive against Afghan security forces and US-led foreign soldiers on April 24.

Afghanistan faces a security challenge years after the United States and its allies invaded the country in 2001 as part of Washington’s so-called war on terror. The offensive removed Taliban from power, but some provinces are still witnessing violence, which threatens stability.

At least 13,500 foreign forces remain in Afghanistan despite the end of the US-led combat mission, which came on December 31, 2014. The forces, mainly from the United States, are there for what Washington calls a support mission. NATO says the forces will focus mainly on counterterrorism operations and training Afghan soldiers and policemen.