KABUL, Oct 6: A Taliban suicide car bomb killed five Afghan civilians and a US soldier in Kabul on Saturday, the third such attack in the capital in eight days in a Taliban offensive launched in Ramazan.

At least 47 people have been killed in the three suicide attacks in Kabul, normally more peaceful and secure than the restive south.

The Afghan government and foreign troops are struggling to stop suicide attacks which sap faith in their ability to provide security and develop a country ravaged by 30 years of war.

“A routine convoy operation here in Kabul today was hit by a suicide, vehicle-born, improvised explosive device,” said US military spokesman Lieutenant-Commander Clint Larson. “One US soldier was injured in the attack. He has since died of his wounds.”

Two large, black Chevrolet four-wheel drive vehicles were hit by the blast. One of the vehicles lay on its side engulfed in flames, the other received minor damage.

“I can see fire and smoke coming from the foreign vehicles,” said one witness, Ghiasuddin Barez. “The explosion took place about 100 metres in front of me. There were two black vehicles on fire and people running and screaming.”

Five Afghan civilians were killed and five wounded in the blast, the Interior Ministry said in a statement.

“It is very difficult to prevent such attacks,” the ministry’s Counter-Terrorism chief Abdulmanan Farahi told a news conference. Afghan police and foreign forces have increased the number of checkpoints and patrols in Kabul to tackle the threat of suicide bombs, he said.—Reuters