Suicide bombing strikes restaurant in Kabul

The Taliban has claimed responsibility for a New Year's Day suicide bombing at a restaurant in Kabul, the latest in a series of attacks in the Afghan capital.

A 12-year-old boy was killed and more than a dozen people were injured, Reuters reports. On Twitter, the Taliban claimed that numerous "invaders" were killed or injured in the attack at Le Jardin, a restaurant popular with foreign visitors. Earlier in the week, one person was killed and 33 injured in a suicide bombing near the Kabul airport, and six U.S. soldiers patrolling near Bagram Air Base outside of the city were killed Dec. 22 after an attacker drove a motorcycle laden with explosives into their military convoy.

The stepped up attacks are coinciding with international efforts to revive peace talks with the Taliban; officials from Afghanistan, Pakistan, China, and the United States are set to meet in Pakistan on January 11 to lay the groundwork for the mediation. In July, the talks unraveled after news broke that Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar died two years ago, and the Taliban is refusing to participate as long as there are foreign forces in Afghanistan.

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