KABUL (AP) - A suicide car bomber struck near the front gate of NATO headquarters in Kabul on Saturday, killing seven people and wounding nearly 100 in a brazen daylight attack less than a week before Afghanistan's landmark presidential election.
Also Saturday, U.S. Marines pushed deeper into the strategic Helmand province town of Dahaneh for a fourth straight day, meeting fierce Taliban resistance as surface-to-surface missiles and Harrier fighter jets pounded insurgent positions in the surrounding hills.
The blast, which occurred about 8:35 a.m. in Kabul's heavily guarded diplomatic quarter, appeared aimed at frightening Afghans against participating in Thursday's presidential election and demonstrating that insurgents can strike whenever and wherever they want.
A Taliban spokesman claimed responsibility for the explosion, which rattled windows across a wide area of the Afghan capital and sent a huge, mushroom cloud of dense black smoke rising into the blue sky.
It was the biggest insurgent attack in Kabul in six months.