KABUL, Afghanistan ? Two British civilians working for a building contractor were among the victims of a weekend suicide bombing in the Afghan capital that killed 17, Britain's Foreign Office said Sunday.
The brazen midday attack on Saturday, in which a Taliban bomber rammed an explosive-filled vehicle into a NATO armored bus, killed five NATO service members, including one Canadian soldier, eight civilian contractors and four Afghans. The assault underscored the Taliban and allied militant movements' ability to strike in the country more than a decade into the U.S.-led coalition's war against the insurgents.
On Sunday, Afghan President Hamid Karzai apologized and expressed condolences to the families of the foreigners and Afghans who died. Karzai's statement of condolences issued after the incident failed to recognize the Americans and other foreigners killed.
A U.S. defense official had said all the foreigners killed were Americans, while NATO has yet to provide the nationalities of those killed.
During a meeting of Afghanistan's National Security Council on Sunday, Karzai offered his apologies to U.S. Ambassador Ryan Crocker and Marine Gen. John Allen, the commander of U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan.
Karzai said it was an oversight and not a snub against his international partners, a Western official said, speaking on condition of anonymity to disclose the personal exchange at the presidential palace.
The Afghan leader also offered his condolences on the death of three Australian soldiers who were killed on a base in the southern Uruzgan province when an Afghan soldier turned his weapon on NATO and Afghan forces. An Afghan interpreter was also killed in that attack, while another seven Australian soldiers were wounded, including one who was treated for life-threatening injuries, according to Australian defense officials.
The motive behind the shooting was still under investigation, but Gen. Abdul Hameed, commander of the Afghan Army Corps 205, said the attacker was a soldier ? not someone posing as a member of the Afghan security forces.
The day's attacks raised to 488 the number of NATO service member killed in Afghanistan so far this year.
The U.S.-led coalition is readying to hand over more security responsibilities to its Afghan counterparts in all or part of 17 of the country's 34 provinces.
British Prime Minister David Cameron offered condolences to families of the dead, but also insisted the attacks would not disrupt the work of international forces in Afghanistan.
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