Suicide bombings in Afghanistan

There's a moderate amount of press about a suicide attack in Afghanistan against a US embassy convoy which killed three Afghanis (AP, AFP, Reuters,) but what caught my eye were two little bits down in the coverage.

There have been nine suicide bombings in Afghanistan in the past week but most have caused few casualties.

Were you aware there had been nine suicide bombings in the last week in "the other war?" The fact that we haven't heard tells me they have not been "successful." Is this the terror component of the dreaded "spring offensive?"

Also, I find it surprising that the tactical "advances" in Al Qaeda in Iraq carbombings don't appear to be crossing over to Afghanistan.

Second point: After all the coverage of the photographs being destroyed after a recent bombing/response, this caught my eye.

U.S. Embassy security teams initially prevented Afghan police, NATO soldiers and journalists from getting close to the vehicles.

Afghani journalists and soldiers I can understand, but NATO soldiers?