Suicide bomber kills 13 in Kabul

A suicide bomber targeted a bus carrying Afghan army personnel in Kabul on Wednesday, killing six military staff and seven civilians, the defence ministry said.

The bomber used a car in the attack, which happened during the morning rush hour on a road in the southwestern part of the city, the ministry said in a statement.

More than a dozen people including seven army officers were wounded, some seriously, in the blast, the second such suicide bombing in Kabul since Tuesday, a ministry source told Reuters.

“Six of the National Army staff and seven civilians were martyred,” the statement said. Ministry spokesman Zahir Azimi said five of the army dead were officers.

It was not immediately clear if the civilians were travelling in the bus or caught on the road by the blast, which also caused gas containers in a nearby shop to explode, witnesses said.

They said ambulances rushed to evacuate the victims. A Taliban spokesman said a member of the resurgent Islamic group carried out the attack.

Kabul, Wednesday, Reuters