A suicide car bomb attack targeted NATO troops in the Afghan capital on Tuesday, killing at least 20 people near parliament in the deadliest strike on Kabul in more than a year.
The Taliban, leading a nearly nine-year resistance against the West and US-led foreign troops, claimed responsibility for the attack, saying they had targeted "invading NATO forces."
The interior ministry said 12 Afghan civilians had been killed and 47 others were wounded.
One senior police officer told Reuters seven foreign troops -- five U.S. and two Canadian -- had also been killed. Another source said five foreign troops had died.
A spokesman for NATO-led forces would not confirm the toll but said a NATO convoy had been attacked in the blast.
Police cordoned off the road near Darulaman palace, a derelict building that once housed Afghanistan's royal family, state television showed. Foreign troops were also in the area.
At least seven cars and one bus were seen destroyed in the attack. Afghan troops were collecting evidence and debris from the blast site.
Foreign troops were seen wrapping at least five dead bodies in body bags.
The Taliban had vowed to launch a new nationwide campaign of attacks from May 10 that would target diplomats and foreign contractors as well as foreign forces in Afghanistan.
PHOTO CAPTION
A public bus is seen damaged after a car bomb attack in Kabul May 18, 2010.
Agencies