Afghan army bus bombed in Kabul, one dead

Kabul, May 3: A roadside bomb ripped into an Afghan army bus in the capital, Kabul, today, killing the driver and wounding 14 people, including seven soldiers, police said.

The remote-controlled bomb was planted by Taliban militants, a spokesman for the group said.

The blast happened in a crowded area of the city just before the rush-hour, as the bus was taking army officers and soldiers to work.

Kabul this year has witnessed a series of attacks on Afghan and foreign forces, including suicide raids, as the Western-backed government and the Taliban push for a decisive advantage in their battle for control of the country.

Violence, while mainly in the south and east of Afghanistan, has been rising in recent weeks after a traditional winter lull.

Thursday's attack followed the assassination of a member of the upper house of the parliament in Kabul late evening.

Ustad Farid, who served as prime minister briefly during the civil war in the 1990s, was gunned down in his car outside his house, police said.

Police said they suspected the killing, the second of a lawmaker this year in Kabul, was due to a feud rather than a Taliban attack.

Reuters>