KABUL, May 30: A bicycle bomb targeting a Nato-led vehicle exploded near Kabul on Monday, wounding seven Afghans, hours after a rocket was fired at the peacekeeping force’s headquarters in the capital.

The twin attacks, which caused no casualties among members of the 8,300-strong International Security Assistance Force, or ISAF, highlighted the deteriorating security situation in Kabul.

The remote-controlled bomb was set on a bicycle left on the side of the main road from Kabul to eastern Jalalabad city.

“Seven people were injured, some of them seriously: four were in a taxi passing by, three were pedestrians,” a police official said. “The taxi driver was seriously injured and was taken to hospital.”

At the scene, where ISAF patrols pass almost every hour, pieces of metal, the remains of the blown up bicycle and the partially destroyed taxi could be seen.

“The target was obviously the ISAF patrols or aimed at creating an atmosphere of violence in the city,” the official added.

Interior ministry spokesman Lutfullah Mashal confirmed the blast in the Hod Qhail neigbourhood targeted an ISAF vehicle. “It was aimed at an ISAF vehicle, but missed it and struck a taxi and pedestrians passing by.”—AFP