Suicide attack kills at least 12 in eastern Afghanistan

By Zabihullah Tamanna

KABUL

At least 12 people were killed and dozens injured on Monday afternoon when a suicide bomber rammed his bomb-laden motorcycle into a bus carrying military personnel in Afghanistan’s eastern Nangarhar province, local officials have said.

According to officials, the attack took place at about 4:30pm local time in a crowded area of Nangarhar’s Surkh Rod district some 150 kilometers east of capital Kabul.

The head of a provincial hospital told Anadolu agency that 12 people had been killed and 38 injured.

"We have recieved 12 bodies and 38 wounded people," he said, adding that most of the victims were military personnel.

The Taliban militant group has since claimed responsibility for the attack, but put the death toll considerably higher.

"At least 51 puppet soldiers have been killed and wounded after a Taliban suicide bomber targeted their bus today in Nangarhar," group spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said in statement.

In a related development in Kabul, at least one person was killed and several others wounded on Monday morning when a bomb planted on a government bus went off.

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani has strongly condemned both attacks.

"The enemies of the country have lost the war against the Afghan security forces, so they are targeting innocent civilians," he said in a Monday statement.