Suicide bomber hits NATO convoy

NEW: The Taliban says it targeted the German troops in a suicide car bombing NEW: Officials: Those confirmed killed or wounded are civiliansNEW: It is not clear if there are NATO casualties in the latest attack The attack comes after the Afghan president said the U.S. is in peace talks with the Taliban

Kabul, Afghanistan (CNN) -- The Taliban claimed responsibility for a suicide car bomb attack Sunday that targeted a NATO convoy in northern Afghanistan's Kunduz province, killing at least three people and wounding 11, a spokesman for the provincial governor's office said.

The attack came a day after Afghan President Hamid Karzai said the United States was involved in peace talks with the Taliban. U.S. officials have downplayed Karzai's statements, saying there had been contact but no discussions substantial enough to be considered negotiations.

News of the talks has done little to stem attacks in Afghanistan.

On Sunday, a suicide bomber detonated a car full of explosives just as a convoy driven by German soldiers passed, said the governor's spokesman, Mahbobellah Saidi.

The convoy was attacked on the road leading to the airport in Kunduz City, the provincial capital, the Ministry of Interior said in a written statement.

All those killed and wounded were civilians, according to Saidi and the ministry statement.

It was not immediately clear whether there were NATO casualties, though one of the convoy vehicles was damaged, Saidi said.

But the Taliban claimed to have killed many soldiers in the attack.

"The troops were targeted accurately, according to the plan, and many of the soldier have been killed as a result of the attack," Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mojahed told CNN by telephone from an unknown location.

CNN can not independently verify the Taliban claim nor Saidi's account.

On Saturday, four NATO service members were killed in combat-related incidents in eastern and southern Afghanistan, and another four were killed in a vehicle accident in southern Afghanistan, NATO said.

ISAF has not released the names of those killed, saying its policy is to defer casualty identification procedures to national authorities.

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Mladic taken from Serbian jail in convoy: witnesses (Reuters)

BELGRADE (Reuters) – Former Serbian military commander Ratko Mladic was taken from a Belgrade courthouse and jail complex in a police convoy on Tuesday and the road to the airport was closed to regular traffic, witnesses said.

Special police wearing face masks, bullet-proof vests and automatic rifles guarded the convoy of Land Rover vehicles. B92 television showed video of another police convoy approaching the city's main airport.

Earlier on Tuesday, Serbia's war crimes court rejected an appeal against Mladic's extradition to The Hague international war crimes tribunal, opening the way for him to face charges of genocide in the siege of Sarajevo and the massacre of 8,000 Muslims in Srebrenica during the 1992-95 Bosnian War.

(Writing by Adam Tanner; Editing by Michael Roddy)

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Pakistan Taliban says attacked U.S. consulate convoy (Reuters)

PESHAWAR, Pakistan (Reuters) – Pakistan's Taliban said on Friday it had attacked a U.S. consulate convoy in the volatile northwestern city of Peshawar, the latest assault in a surge of violence since U.S. forces killed al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden this month.

Police said a car bomb had been detonated by remote control as the convoy passed, killing one Pakistani. Twelve people were wounded.

U.S. embassy spokesman Alberto Rodriguez said two U.S. nationals were among the wounded, with minor injuries. Police said the two were security guards.

The attack on the two-vehicle convoy took place on a main road in an area where many Western diplomats live and involved 50 kg (110 pounds) of explosives, police said.

"There was an attack on a two-car convoy from the consulate in Peshawar. One car was hit. We are still investigating what actually happened," said Rodriguez.

Peshawar police chief Liaqat Ali said the blast had been caused by a car bomb detonated remotely.

"It was not a suicide bombing," he told Reuters.

It was the first attack on Westerners since bin Laden's death on May 2.

Peshawar has seen many operations by Taliban militants seeking to topple the U.S.-backed Pakistani government and was home to bin Laden in the 1980s when Islamists were fighting the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan.

TALIBAN TARGETS NATO DIPLOMATS

Al Qaeda and its ally, the Pakistani Taliban, have vowed to avenge the killing of bin Laden by U.S. special forces and, the group said it would target the Pakistani government and its Western allies.

"The diplomatic staff of all NATO countries are our targets," said Ehsanullah Ehsan, a Taliban spokesman, told Reuters via telephone from an undisclosed location.

"We will continue such attacks. Pakistan is our first target, and America is our second."

Many Pakistanis are frustrated with the inability of security forces to subdue the Taliban. In a separate attack on Friday, an explosion killed five people and wounded four in the tribal region of Orakzai in the northwest, officials said.

"The security after the killing of Osama has been lax instead of being tighter. We are feeling insecure," said Tahir Khan, 20, a student standing near the site of the blast in Peshawar.

One of the consulate vehicles, which police said was armored, was riddled with shrapnel. The blast forced it to slam into an electricity pole beside a pre-school.

"I had just arrived at school and was about to start my work when there was a big blast. The windows of our school were broken and I was hurt," said school administrator Zahid Zaman from a hospital bed.

The Pakistani rupee fell to an eight-month low of 86 to a dollar on Friday. Dealers said the new attack had compounded uncertainty linked to bin Laden's killing and its aftermath.

Americans have been targeted before in Pakistan.

In April of 2010, militants using a car bomb and firing weapons attacked the U.S. consulate in Peshawar. The Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility for the operation in which eight people, including three militants, were killed. No one in the mission was hurt.

Pakistan has witnessed a jump in violence since bin Laden's death, including a twin suicide bombing last week that killed more than 80 people, most of them paramilitary recruits.

The Taliban have kept up pressure on the government with suicide attacks despite several army offensives against them.

The United States wants nuclear-armed Pakistan to be a more reliable partner in its war on militancy. Cooperation between the two allies is needed to stabilize neighboring Afghanistan.

Ties have been severely damaged since the secret raid that killed bin Laden. Pakistan is under pressure to explain how he spent what appeared to be about five years in a military town not far from the capital.

Pakistan's army was infuriated by the operation, describing it as a violation of national sovereignty.

(Additional reporting by Zeeshan Haiderin Islamabad and Izaz Mohmand, Khurram Pervez and Saad Khan in Peshawar and Saud Mehsud in Dera Ismail Khan; Writing by Michael Georgy; Editing by Ron Popeski)

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Kurd rebels claim Turkish convoy attack

Police inspect the site of an attack on a convoy connected with Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday.The Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK, claims responsibilityOne policeman was injured in the attack on the convoy of the prime ministerPrime Minister Erdogan was not in the convoy at the time of the attack

Istanbul, Turkey (CNN) -- A separatist rebel group claimed responsibility Friday for an ambush on a convoy connected with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

At the time of the attack Wednesday, Erdogan was not in the convoy, which had been traveling to a campaign rally, and he was airlifted to his next stop in a helicopter.

A policeman was killed and another was injured in the attack, Erdogan said Wednesday.

In a statement e-mailed to CNN, the Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK, claimed responsibility for the ambush in the province of Kastamonu.

The statement reads: "On 4 May at 17:15 hours, our guerrillas carried an action against a police vehicle in a vehicles convoy at 25th km of the Kastomonu-Ankara Highway skirts of the Mount Ilgaz. This action carried out in retaliation against the police terror against civilian population."

The attack was in northern Turkey, between the cities of Kastamonu and Cankiri.

A bomb exploded in front of the police vehicles escorting the ruling Justice and Development Party bus after it made a stop in Kastamonu. Erdogan and his contingent were on a campaign trip ahead of parliamentary elections, expected to be held on June 12.

PKK rebels have been battling the Turkish state since the early 1980s. More than 30,000 people, most of them ethnic Kurds, have been killed in the conflict.

Riots erupted in Turkey's largest city, Istanbul, last month, after Turkey's electoral board issued a controversial decision to ban several Kurdish politicians from running for office. The electoral board later reversed its decision.

Addressing a rally in Amasya, Erdogan expressed sorrow about the death and blamed the attack on separatist groups.

"These dark minds who do not believe in democracy's struggle. These terrorists, these separatist forces believe they can only achieve results this way instead of through the ballot box," the prime minister said.

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Turkish PM safe after convoy attack

One policeman was killed when Erdogan's convoy was attacked The Turkish prime minister was not in the convoy and not injured Turkey's national parliamentary elections are scheduled for June 12

Istanbul, Turkey (CNN) -- Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Wednesday one policeman was killed and another injured when his convoy was attacked on its way to a campaign rally.

Erdogan was not in the convoy at the time of the attack and was airlifted to his next stop in a helicopter, NTV news reported.

The attack happened in northern Turkey, between the cities of Kastamonu and Cankiri, where the prime minister had a campaign event.

A bomb exploded in front of the police convoy escorting the ruling Justice and Development (AK) Party bus after it made a stop in Kastamonu.

Addressing a rally later in Amasya, Erdogan expressed his sorrow about the death, and blamed the attack on separatist groups.

"These dark minds who do not believe in democracy's struggle, these terrorists, these separatist forces believe they can only achieve results this way instead of through the ballot box," the prime minister said.

Erdogan is continuing his election campaign tour for the upcoming national parliamentary elections slated for June 12.

CNN's Ivan Watson, Yesim Comert and Talia Kayali contributed to this report.

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