NATO convoy bomb adds urgency to protecting Kabul

KABUL, Afghanistan -- The weekend suicide bombing of a NATO convoy that killed 17 people in Kabul adds urgency to the U.S.-led coalition's work to expand a security bubble around the Afghan capital.

With most of the attacks in Kabul blamed on the Pakistan-based Haqqani network, the latest reinforced U.S. and Afghan demands that Islamabad do more to curb militant activity and sanctuaries on its territory.

While there is no specific information linking Saturday's convoy attack to the Haqqani network, investigators say they soon will have evidence the bombing was "Haqqani-related," a western diplomat said Sunday. The diplomat, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the investigation, said it was "very possible" the attack was the work of Haqqani fighters, who have ties to both al-Qaida and the Taliban.

In the midday assault, a suicide bomber rammed a vehicle packed with explosives into an armored coalition bus traveling in the southwest end of the city. Heavily armored military vehicles also were in the convoy, but the bomber targeted the bus, which was carrying troops and civilians contractors.

The Haqqanis were the specific focus of two military operations this month that involved tens of thousands of Afghan and NATO troops. They were conducted over nine days in Kabul province, Wardak, Logar and Ghazni provinces south and west of the capital and Paktia, Paktika and Khost provinces along the border. More than 200 insurgents were killed or captured. At least 20 of them had ties to the Haqqani group, including 10 identified as leaders of the network.

At least 11 of about 15 major attacks in the capital this year can be blamed on the Haqqanis, according to a senior official with the coalition who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss undisclosed investigative reports on the incidents.

The United States has stepped up criticism of Pakistan and its counterterrorism cooperation but at the same time has worked to cajole the increasingly angry and resistant Pakistanis into doing more to squeeze militants on its side of the border.

U.S. Army Lt. Gen. Curtis Scaparrotti, who directs day-to-day military operations in Afghanistan, said last week he thinks the goal to have Afghan security forces in the lead across the country by the end of 2014 can be achieved without work against militant sanctuaries in Pakistan. But he said it would be a challenge.