KABUL, September 17 (RIA Novosti) - The death toll from Thursday's suicide bomb attack in the Afghan capital of Kabul has risen to 16, with over 50 people injured, the Afghan Foreign Ministry said.

Six Italian military personnel and 10 Afghan civilians died when a car laden with explosives smashed into a fuel tanker traveling from the international airport towards the U.S. embassy at about midday.

The radical Islamic Taliban group claimed responsibility, saying one of their militants carried out the suicide attack against NATO forces.

Violence has surged in Afghanistan in recent months, with the Taliban, toppled in a 2001 U.S.-led campaign, staging regular attacks on provincial government officials, police and civilians.