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Huge bus bomb kills 35 in Kabul

An enormous bomb ripped through a police academy bus at Kabul's busiest transportation hub yesterday, killing at least 35 people in the deadliest insurgent attack in Afghanistan since the US-led invasion in 2001. The Taliban claimed responsibility.

The thunderous explosion -- which sheared the metal sidings and roof off the bus, leaving only a charred skeleton -- represented a massive leap in scale from previous Taliban or al-Qaeda bombings in Afghanistan, raising the specter of an increase in Iraq-style attacks.

At least 35 people were killed, including 22 policemen, said Ahmed Zia Aftali, head of Kabul's military hospital. At least 35 others were wounded, hospital officials said. A victim said the bus had been filled with police instructors.

A purported Taliban spokesman, Qari Yousef Ahmadi, said a Taliban suicide bomber named Mullah Asim Abdul Rahman caused the blast. His claim could not be verified.

If confirmed, it would be the fifth suicide attack in Afghanistan in three days.

Unidentifiable body parts littered the blast site as far as 30m from the bus. Hundreds of police and investigators inspected the scene, with some pulling bodies from the wreckage, ordered civilians to leave the area -- an outdoor bus station normally teeming with people.

At a nearby hospital, a large blue plastic trash can overflowed with the bloodied shoes and sandals of victims.

"Never in my life have I heard such a sound," said Ali Jawad, a 48-year-old selling phone cards nearby. "A big fireball followed. I saw blood and a decapitated man thrown out of the bus. Wounded people were shouting, `Help me, help me,' and women and children were shouting and running in different directions."

Jawad said his 12-year-old son was selling lottery cards nearby.

"I lay under the shadow of a tree when my son came over and asked if I was OK. It was such a shock that I even forgot that my son was there," he said.

At least one person on the bus survived the attack. Nasir Ahmad, 22, who was sitting in the back of the bus when the blast took place, said the vehicle had been filled with police instructors.

"There were between 30 to 40 police instructors in the bus," Ahmad said from a hospital bed where he was recovering from wounds to his face and hands.
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