Taliban claims responsibility for Kabul suicide bombing that left 24 dead
Another 42 were injured as attackers targeted a bus.
The Taliban has claimed responsibility for an attack in the Afghan capital that killed 24 people and wounded 42.
The early morning suicide car bombing targeted a bus carrying employees of the mines and petroleum ministry.
The statement, sent by Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid, said the target of the bombing was the intelligence services and their employees.
He claimed the bus was filled with employees of the intelligence services, but Kabul police chief spokesman Basir Mujahed said the employees worked for the mines and petroleum ministry.
Mujahid said Taliban insurgents had spent the last two months shadowing the intelligence services before carrying out the attack.
The attack happened in a western neighbourhood of Kabul where several prominent politicians live and at rush hour, as residents were heading to work and students were on their way to a nearby private high school, said the spokesman, Basir Mujahed.
“The bomber attacked at one of the busiest times of the day,” he said. “There were traffic jams with people going to work and to the university and schools. Many of the shops had just opened.”
The bus was completely destroyed, along with three other cars and several shops in the area, he said, adding that children were among the wounded.
In a statement, the Interior Ministry called the attack “a criminal act against humanity”.
Monday’s attack was the second against employees of the mines and petroleum ministry. Last year, a bus carrying the ministry’s employees was also targeted in an attack that killed several people.
“Once again, these terrorist are attacking civilians and targeting government staff,” President Ashraf Ghani said in a statement.
