By Hamid Shalizi
KABUL (Reuters) - A Taliban suicide car bomber killed at least 12 Afghan civilians and wounded dozens more on Tuesday in an attack on a NATO convoy in the capital, Kabul, the interior ministry said.
"Recent reports ... show 47 civilians wounded and 12 others killed in this terrorist suicide attack. We do not have information on (NATO-led) ISAF casualties," interior ministry spokesman Zemarai Bashary told Reuters.
A Taliban spokesman told Reuters that they were responsible for the attack and had used a van packed with explosives.
President Hamid Karzai told a news conference that there had been both Afghan and ISAF casualties, but did not give details.
Police cordoned off the road near Darulaman palace, a derelict building that once housed Afghanistan's royal family, state television showed. Foreign troops were in the area.
"We are aware of an incident and we are looking into it," a spokesman for ISAF said. The spokesman could not confirm that a NATO convoy was the target.
An increasingly resurgent Taliban announced a spring offensive in May against government officials and foreign diplomats and troops.
Karzai has recently return from a trip to Washington where he met U.S. President Barack Obama to discuss strained ties between the two countries amid rising Taliban insurgency.
(Additional reporting by Golnar Motevalli; Editing by Alex Richardson)
