7 killed, 18 hurt in suicide attack on MoD bus

KABUL (Pajhwok): Seven peopel were killed and 18 others, including civilians, wounded during a asuicide bombing of a vehicle of the Ministry of Defence (MoD) in the Guzargah locality of Kabul on Saturday, acting Interior Minister Ayub Salangi said.

The attack took place at around 3:50 pm, eyewitness Usman said, adding that the suicide bomber attacked the MoD bus carrying workers in limits of the 2^nd police district of the capital.

The vehicle caught fire soon after the heavy explosion, he told Pajhwok Afghan News. He saw several charred bodies and injured people at the site that was cordoned off by security personnel.

Interior Ministry official Col. Humayun Aini confirmed the MoD vehicle caught fire as a result of the bombing. He did not give the casualty figures.

Kabul police chief Brig. Gen. Abdur Rahman Rahim told journalists at the site a number of the bus occupants had been charred beyond recognition due to the late arrival of firefighters. He also stopped short of putting a figure on fatalities.

So far during the current year, some 5,000 Afghan police and soldiers and more than 1,500 civilians have been killed in increasing insurgent attacks.

Our reporter at the site quoted a rescuer as saying that 11 occupants of the bus had been killed and 18 others wounded.

Dr. Abdul Kabir Amiri, head of Kabul hospitals at the Ministry of Public Health, confirmed 17 wounded people — most of them civilians — had been evacuated to hospital.

As usual, the Taliban claimed credit for the attack, with the group’s spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid saying that several occupants of the the Afghan National Army (ANA) had been killed and wounded.

Gen. Zahir Azimi, MoD spokesman, wrote on his Twitter account: “A suicide attacker targeted an ANA bus, causing casualties. Numbers will be released later.”

rm/mud

Visits: 6