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Bus detonates in Kabul attack

A suicide attacker blew up a police bus in Kabul yesterday, killing at least 11 people in a new attack by the extremist Taliban just days after a similar bombing claimed 30 lives in the capital.

The attack in the west of the city ripped off the sides and roof of the bus, which was smeared in blood and flesh, a reporter said. Parts of seats were flung into the trees.

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahed said the militia was responsible for the carnage. It also claimed Friday's attack on a defense ministry bus that killed 30 people -- one of the bloodiest bombings of the insurgency.

The attacker, strapped with explosives, had tried to board the bus but a policeman on the vehicle became suspicious and shot him, interior ministry spokesman Zemarai Bashary said.

Wounded, the bomber still managed to get onto the first step of the bus and detonate his explosives, Bashary said, citing witnesses.

At least 11 people were killed -- six of them policemen on the bus and five civilians, including three children on their way to school, he said.

Seven people were wounded, including civilians and police.

Witnesses said the final toll was expected to be higher, as none of the other 15 passengers are likely to have survived and passers-by were also caught up in the blast.

A resident of the area, named only Atiqullah, said he heard a "terrible explosion."

"I stepped out of the house and I saw thick, black smoke. When I ran to the blast site, I saw around four civilians, including a woman and a child, who were dead being carried from the scene to a car," the 28-year-old said.

He estimated that 15 people were on the bus and none would have survived.

"I did not have the heart to help take them [the dead] out of the bus. I cannot describe the scene -- blood, bones and flesh. These poor people in this holy month," he said.

The Taliban had vowed a campaign of attacks for the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, which will end in two weeks.

Sayed Mohaiudin Hashami, another witness, who had been waiting for his ride to work, said he also saw the attacker step onto the vehicle.

"Almost everybody on the bus was martyred except three or four people who were wounded that we helped put into civilian vehicles to take them to hospital," said Hashami, who is a government employee.

Health Minister Sayed Mohammad Amin Fatemi said at the scene that it was too early to confirm the number of casualties because the dead and wounded had been taken to different hospitals.

"They are criminals," he said angrily of those behind the attack. "They don't have any respect for human life. We can expect more attacks from them."

Kabul has this year suffered some of its worst attacks since the Taliban were driven from government six years ago in a US-led invasion following the Sept. 11 attacks by al-Qaeda, which was sheltered by the Taliban.

Besides the defense ministry bus explosion, a June suicide attack on a police bus in the heart of the city killed 35 people. It was the bloodiest attack in Afghanistan since the al-Qaeda-linked Taliban began their fight.

The insurgency has escalated every year, with suicide attacks spiralling to more than 110 already this year compared to 120 in all of last year.

So far the violence has killed around 5,000 people, most of them rebels but including more than 700 civilians and around 700 Afghan police and soldiers.

Desperate to end the violence, President Hamid Karzai at the weekend offered to negotiate with the fugitive leader of the Taliban, Mullah Mohammad Omar.

The Taliban have said they would only talk if foreign troops quit Afghanistan, a demand Karzai has rejected.
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