'I'm back in Afghanistan, I wonder what lies before me': The tragic last tweet of British woman killed by a suicide bomber in Kabul

• Jeni Ayris, from Edinburgh, died alongside 11 fellow aviation workers when a female insurgent rammed a car laden with explosives into their minibus
• Born in South Africa, she lived in Edinburgh for 20 years and had British nationality
• Friends described her as a 'great cook who loved entertaining' and keen sailor who loved sailing on the Firth of Forth and the West Coast of Scotland
• She died with eight South Africans in blast which claimed 12 lives on Tuesday

A British woman killed by a suicide bomber in Kabul wrote a tragic last message on Twitter just weeks before she died, asking: ‘I am back in Afghanistan and wonder what lies before me this time.’
Jeni Ayris, from Edinburgh, died alongside 11 fellow aviation workers when a female insurgent rammed a car laden with explosives into their minibus as they drove to the airport on Tuesday.
Islamist group Hezb-e-Islami claimed responsibility for the attack, claiming it was in retaliation for the controversial American film lampooning the Prophet Mohammad which has sparked turmoil across the Muslim world.
Ms Ayris, 47, who had been in Afghanistan for little more than a month, was due to return home to see her sister Patricia and friends in Scotland only this weekend.
Heartbroken friends described her today as a 'great cook who loved entertaining' and a passionate sailor who enjoyed boating on the Firth of Forth and along the West Coast of Scotland.

Bubbly: Jeni Ayris, who had been in Afghanistan for more than a month, was due to return home to see family and friends in Edinburgh only this weekend

She had been working in the country for just over a year as a customer relations manager for aviation firm Air Charter Services, organising private flights for charities and NGOs into and out of the country.

 

'She loved her job,' said friend Richard Kellett, a restaurant manager and former Army captain in the Scots Guards. 'She would go out there for three months at a time and come home for one. She was due to come home this weekend.
‘She loved it out there and always looked forward to going back when she came home on leave.’
He said Ms Ayris, who was born in South Africa but had lived in Scotland for 20 years and gained British nationality, had no immediate family apart from sister Patricia, who he said was ‘distraught’ over her death.
Ms Ayris and a partner opened a cafe called Ndebele in Edinburgh several years ago, serving South African food.

Tragic: The final tweet posted by Ms Ayris weeks before she died

Tragic: Ms Ayris had been working in the country for just over a year as a customer relations manager for aviation firm Air Charter Services, organising private flights for charities and NGOs into and out of the country

No chance: Afghan security personel scour the mangled remains of the minibus in which Ms Ayris died for clues

‘Patricia got a call from the company only this morning telling her her sister had been killed in a roadside bomb. It wasn’t until later that she found out it was a suicide blast.
‘Patricia is distraught. Jeni was her only family and she cannot come to terms with the violent manner in which her sister was killed.
‘She was a wonderful woman and a wonderful friend.
'She loved sailing and spent time sailing in the Firth of Forth and on the West Coast of Scotland.
'She was a great cook and loved entertaining, dinners and parties at her house were always great fun.
'She was an amazing friend who could always be relied upon to help you out of any situation no matter how difficult it might be. She always had a great positive energy and a buzz about her.'
A Foreign Office spokesman said: 'We are aware of the incident in Kabul and are consular staff are liasing with partners on the ground and Afghan authorities to establish more details.'
The bomber was named by Afghan insurgents as Fatima, 22, who was reportedly wearing a suicide vest and blew herself up on a large avenue northwest of the city centre near the airport.

Abandoned possessions: Afghan security personnel carry bags belonging to foreign contractors

Carnage: Security staff inspect the scene. Islamist group Hezb-e-Islami has claimed responsibility for the blast

Horrific sight: Bodies were seen lying by the mangled mini-van, which was thrown at least 50 metres

The criminal director for the Kabul police department, Mohammad Zahir, said eight South Africans believed to be foreign aviation company workers died in the blast and ten Afghan bystanders were wounded.
The other person killed was believed to be Afghan - possibly a driver or translator for the group.
The explosion, which went off in front of a petrol station, was so powerful it hurled the minibus about 50 metres (46 yards).
Reports from the scene said at least six bodies lay next to the destroyed mini-van.
Eight Afghan workers were also said to have been injured in the blast.

Wreckage: An Afghan security officer investigates at the site of the attack, which is thought to have been carried out by a 22-year-old woman wearing a suicide vest

Investigation: Nato's soldiers and Afghan forces inspect the scene after the latest outbreak of violence

Putting out the flames: Afghanistan firefighters pour water on the remains of the Sedan that carried the bomber along a major highway leading to the airport

An eyewitness at the scene said he was waiting for a bus to go to work at 6.45am when he saw a small white sedan ram into the mini-bus.
'The explosion was so powerful and loud that I could not hear anything for ten minutes,' said Abdullah Shah, a teacher waiting at a bus stop. 'It was early and there wasn't much traffic.'
The bombing came a day after hundreds of Afghans burned cars and threw rocks at a U.S. military base in the capital in a demonstration against the anti-Islam film.
One police vehicle was burned by the mob before they finally dispersed around midday yesterday.

Proximity: The bomb blast happened near Kabul airport, killing nine and injuring eight others (file picture)

Hizb-i-Islami is led by former warlord Gulbuddin Hekmatyar. The group has recently sought to participate in a so-far fruitless peace and reconciliation effort led by President Hamid Karzai.

As part of the group's effort, it offered a peace plan that called for a broad-based government. Hizb-i-Islami is a radical Islamist militia that has thousands of fighters and followers across the north and east of Afghanistan.
Its 65-year-old leader is a former Afghan prime minister and one-time U.S. ally who is now listed as a terrorist by Washington.

Devastating: The incident was the first reported suicide car bombing ever to be carried out by a woman in Afghanistan

The Taliban have also threatened to increase their attacks against foreign targets to avenge the controversial film.
Taliban fighters last week attacked a large British base in southern Afghanistan, killed two U.S. Marines and destroyed six fighter jets. Nato forces killed 14 insurgents and captured another who participated in the attack.

In a torrent of violence blamed on the film last week, the U.S. ambassador to Libya and three other Americans were killed in an attack in Benghazi.
U.S. and other foreign embassies were stormed in cities in Asia, Africa and the Middle East by furious Muslims. At least nine other people were killed.

Shocking violence: The bomber was driving a Sedan and blew it up beside a minivan carrying foreigners on a major highway leading to Kabul's international airport

Widespread anger: Afghan police arrive at the scene of the attack, which was apparently launched in retaliation for a film mocking the Prophet Mohammad

The news will raise fears that anger over the film will feed into deteriorating security as the U.S. and other Western countries try to protect their forces from a rash of so-called insider attacks by Afghan colleagues.
The U.S. has sent ships, extra troops and special forces to protect U.S. interests and citizens in the Middle East, while a number of its embassies have evacuated staff and are on high alert for trouble.
Despite Obama's efforts early in his tenure to improve relations with the Arab and Muslim world, the violence adds to a host of problems including the continued US military involvement in Afghanistan, Iran's nuclear programme, the Syrian civil war and the fall-out from the Arab Spring revolts.