Blast hurts 11 in Afghanistan

KABUL, Afghanistan – A bomb blast at a heavily guarded road between the German Embassy and a U.S. military base set the embassy on fire today and wounded at least 11 people, including four U.S. troops.

Firefighters raced to the site and doused the embassy with water.

A spokesman for the German Embassy, Philipp Wendel, said he couldn’t immediately give any information on the attack. “Unfortunately we have a tight security situation right now,” he said.

Lt. Col. Chris Kubik, a spokesman for the U.S. military, said four U.S. personnel were wounded by shrapnel from the blast. He said some windows at the base were blown out.

“It did not breach the wall (of the base),” he said. “It was fairly close but I can’t tell you if they were targeting us or not.”

At least seven Afghan civilians were also wounded, said Interior Ministry spokesman Zemeri Bashary.