11 wounded at German Embassy bombing in Kabul

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

A bomb blast at a heavily guarded road between the German Embassy and a US military base set the embassy on fire on Saturday and wounded at least 11 people, including four US troops.

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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 US military, said four US 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.

The German Embassy shares a small, two lane road with Camp Eggers, a US base that serves as the headquarters for soldiers training Afghan police and army personnel. Dozens of armed Afghan security personnel guard the street, and blast walls of concrete line the road.

The explosion damaged several vehicles on the street.