Afghan police stop five bombers on suicide mission

Afghan police arrested five would-be suicide bombers in Kabul today, the largest attack to have been stopped in the capital.

Abdul Ghafar, deputy commander of the Afghan National Police crisis unit, said police stopped the bombers in an SUV after receiving a tip-off, and that the attackers were from the al Qaeda-linked Haqqani network.

"If this team had made it through it would have been a disaster," he said.

"Today's operation marks a big success. Our capacities are improving day by day and also our ability to uncover such plots is improving day by day."

Mr Ghafar said the nationalities and identities of the five men had yet to be determined. He said their targets were crowded parts of Kabul where they could cause the most carnage.

The five were paraded, blindfolded and handcuffed, at a heavily guarded police base on the city's outskirtswith their vehicle and bags containing explosive material and suicide harnesses.