A suicide bomb attack in Kabul has killed at least three civilians and wounded 21, just hours ahead of NATO's handover of Afghanistan's security to its national forces.
The suicide bomb blast on Tuesday targeted a prominent Hazara politician and the country's senior Shia cleric, Mohammad Mohaqiq, who barely escaped the blast, though several of his bodyguards were wounded, officials said.
The Shia Muslim cleric is a senior member of a committee set up by President Hamid Karzai in 2010 to assist broker a peace pact with the Taliban, according to Reuters.
The blast took place shortly before hundreds of local and international officials gathered to attend a ceremony on the outskirts of the capital to witness NATO formally hand over its control of the last 95 districts to Afghan forces.
Tuesday's bomb blast is the third attack in barely two weeks and it comes days after a suicide bomber killed 17 people just outside the Supreme Court.
The final districts that were handed over include 13 in Kandahar province, the birthplace of the Taliban and 12 each in Khost, Nangarhar and Paktika, all bastions of insurgent activity on the borders along Pakistan.
The combat responsibilities, which are being shifted to the 350,000-strong Afghan National Army, are a landmark on the road to the final withdrawal of the NATO troops at the end of next year.
