2 Afghan civilians die in suicide blast

KABUL, Afghanistan — A suicide bomber detonated his payload of explosives Sunday in clogged traffic here, killing two people and wounding three, the Afghan authorities said.

The casualties were Afghan civilians who were either in cars or passing by on foot, officials said.

The target of the attack appeared to be a sport-utility vehicle belonging to the German Embassy, the authorities said. Convoys of government officials, foreign diplomats and security forces frequently use the road, which passes in front of the parliament building.

The blast perforated one side of the embassy vehicle with dozens of shrapnel holes and punctured its tires, but its sole occupant, an Afghan employee of the embassy, escaped unharmed, a spokesman for the German foreign service said.

Zabiula Mujahid, a spokesman for the Taliban, said the group was responsible for the attack. Zemarai Bashary, the Afghan Interior Ministry spokesman, said the bomber was on foot.

It was the second suicide attack in the capital in four days. The Taliban also claimed responsibility for a suicide car bombing that killed four people and wounded 17 Thursday.

Also on Sunday, two Afghan journalists who were kidnapped by the Taliban last week were released, an Afghan official said.

The journalists — Dawa Khan Menapal of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and Azizullah Popal, who worked for a local radio station in Zabul province — were kidnapped by the Taliban on Wednesday in Ghazni province, south of Kabul, said Gulab Shah Alikheil, the deputy governor of Zabul.

"They were freed through an effort by the elders of Zabul province," Alikheil said. "The government did not intervene, and we let the elders negotiate." He said that both journalists were in good health.