(17 Sep 2006)
1. Wide of NATO headquarters in Kabul
2. Cutaway of journalists
3. Lieutenant Genera David Richards, NATO forces' commander in Afghanistan arriving
4. SOUNDBITE: (English) Lieutenant General David Richards, NATO forces' commander in Afghanistan:
"Afghani, ISAF and coalition forces have now successfully completed the clearance of the Panjway area, forcing the insurgents forces to abandon their positions and I would like to pay special tribute now to the bravery of all the sources concerned in this demanding operation and in particular the leadership of Canadian Brigadier General David Frasier."
5. Wide of the press
6. Various of French NATO forces arriving at the scene of the attack
7. Turkish NATO forces arriving at the scene
8. U.S. humvee and U.S. soldiers at the scene
9. Villagers watching
10. Wide of more Turkish NATO forces arriving at the scene
STORYLINE:
A suicide bomber blew himself up next to a U.S. military convoy on the outskirts of Kabul Sunday, wounding three U.S.-led coalition soldiers and killing one civilian, a spokesman for the coalition said.
The attack on the convoy happened in east Kabul and also wounded a second civilian, said a coalition spokesman.
He would not disclose nationalities of those wounded.
But an Afghan police officer said earlier two US soldiers and two civilians were wounded in the blast.
The bombing occurred on a road about five kilometres (three miles) east of the Afghan capital, he said
Meanwhile, a top NATO general said on Sunday that the alliance's anti-Taliban offensive in southern Afghanistan has been "successfully completed."
Lieutenant General David Richards, the head of the 20,000 NATO-led force called the two week long operation in insurgency wracked southern Afghanistan a "significant success".
Hundreds of Taliban militants and about 30 foreign troops have been killed during the Operation Medusa that targeted the resurgent Taliban militants in three areas of southern Afghanistan, the alliance said.
The insurgents were forced to abandon their position and the reconstruction and development efforts would soon begin, Richards said.
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