Blasts hit Afghan buses

KABUL – Blasts hit two buses taking Afghan government workers to their ministries in Kabul yesterday killing one person and wounding more than 40 in the second day of attacks in the capital.

Violence by Taliban insurgents has surged in Afghanistan this year to its worst level since the militants were ousted in 2001 but most of the bloodshed has been in the south and east. Attacks in Kabul are rare but on Tuesday two bomb attacks wounded about 10 people in the city.Yesterday, an Afghan army bus was hit by a mine as it was travelling to the Ministry of Defence during the morning rush hour.”A remote-control mine in a trash bin beside the road exploded and 39 ANA personnel were wounded,” the ministry said in a statement, referring to the Afghan National Army.The wounded were not seriously hurt.The bus veered off the road into a shop selling cooking gas cylinders sparking a fire and more blasts as cylinders exploded.Around the same time, a bomb hidden in an abandoned vendor’s cart hit a bus carrying Ministry of Commerce workers in the north of the city.Five people were wounded and one died on the way to hospital, the Interior Ministry said.The Taliban claimed responsibility.The insurgents have mounted scores of roadside and suicide bomb attacks, as well as ambushes, raids and assassinations this year.The intensity of the violence has taken the government and its Western backers by surprise.The United States had been hoping to trim its troop numbers this year as a NATO peacekeeping force took over in the south.It now has 23,000 troops in Afghanistan, the most since its involvement began in 2001.- Nampa-ReutersAttacks in Kabul are rare but on Tuesday two bomb attacks wounded about 10 people in the city.Yesterday, an Afghan army bus was hit by a mine as it was travelling to the Ministry of Defence during the morning rush hour.”A remote-control mine in a trash bin beside the road exploded and 39 ANA personnel were wounded,” the ministry said in a statement, referring to the Afghan National Army.The wounded were not seriously hurt.The bus veered off the road into a shop selling cooking gas cylinders sparking a fire and more blasts as cylinders exploded.Around the same time, a bomb hidden in an abandoned vendor’s cart hit a bus carrying Ministry of Commerce workers in the north of the city.Five people were wounded and one died on the way to hospital, the Interior Ministry said.The Taliban claimed responsibility.The insurgents have mounted scores of roadside and suicide bomb attacks, as well as ambushes, raids and assassinations this year.The intensity of the violence has taken the government and its Western backers by surprise.The United States had been hoping to trim its troop numbers this year as a NATO peacekeeping force took over in the south.It now has 23,000 troops in Afghanistan, the most since its involvement began in 2001.- Nampa-Reuters