At least eight die in Afghan capital suicide bombing

December 15, 2009At least eight people have died in the Afghan capital Kabul after a suicide bombing hit the diplomatic and governmental residential district, according to officials.

The car bomb exploded this morning outside the Heetal Hotel shortly before the start of a three-day conference on corruption in the capital, killing at least eight. President Hamid Karzai said that the dead included two bodyguards of former vice-president. The former vice-president's house was damaged, and police suspect that he may have been the intended target of the attack.

Kabul has suffered many attacks in recent months. Last month, a rocket strike near a hotel in the capital injured four people, and another car bomb attack outside a NATO base injured six.