Taliban Bomber Kills 6 at Military Hospital

In a brazen attack in Kabul's most secure district, a Taliban suicide bomber infiltrated the capital's main military hospital and killed at least six Afghan medical students and wounded 23 others. The bombing was a blow to Afghan and NATO forces that have expanded checkpoints and security cordons in the Afghan capital as the Taliban intensifies their attacks ahead of a planned US drawdown in July. It also indicated the insurgency may now be favoring terror-style tactics rather than larger traditional battles.

No foreign medical doctors or nurses were among the dead or wounded, Afghan and NATO officials said. All those killed were eating lunch inside a tent used by medical students for meals. A Taliban spokesman said the attack targeted foreign trainers and Afghan doctors who work with them. (More Taliban stories.)