MOSCOW (Sputnik) — An explosive device went off Friday near a convoy of Romanian troops in Afghanistan's southern Kandahar province, local media reported, citing sources.
A car bomb explosion occurred near the Kandahar Airport, injuring three Romanian servicemen, the TOLOnews broadcaster said.
Operation Resolute Support confirmed its servicemen were injured after an improvised explosive device hit their patrol convoy in Kandahar.
"A small number of Resolute Support service members were wounded today when a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device targeted their patrol in Kandahar," the mission said in a press release.
A Romanian service member died in Afghanistan after an improvised explosive device hit a NATO-led mission patrol convoy, but there were no US casualties in the incident, US Department of Defense spokesperson Rob Manning said in a briefing later in the day.
"There were no US casualties," Manning told reporters. "One of their [Romanian] service members died. Our thoughts go out to the family and comrades of that brave Romanian service member."
Taliban has reportedly claimed responsibility for the attack.
#Taliban target @ResoluteSupport with VBIED martyr attack near #Kandahar airbase & again huge blast did not harm indestructible invaders 🙄 pic.twitter.com/pzjvMfdc19
— Abdulqahar Balkhi (@balkhi_04) 15 сентября 2017 г.
the Taliban take responsibility for #Kandahar's attack that targeted Romanian forces, primary reports say 3 Romanian soldiers were wounded.
— BaburHumayoon (@humayoon_babur) 15 сентября 2017 г.
On August 22, the Taliban announced it would continue jihad in response to US President Donald Trump's decision to send more troops to Afghanistan.
Afghanistan is in a state of political and social turmoil, with government forces fighting the continuing Taliban insurgency. The instability has persisted in the country since the 2001 US-led invasion to defeat the Taliban and al-Qaeda in the wake of the 9/11 attacks in the United States.
