Four killed, 29 wounded in Kabul blast: officials

Kabul, Jan 12 (AFP) At least four people were killedand 29 wounded in a suicide motorcycle blast in an area ofKabul close to government ministries and parliament, ministryofficials said today.

The suicide attacker detonated his explosives-ladenvehicle close to a minibus carrying employees of Afghanistan''sintelligence agency, the National Directorate of Security(NDS), officials and witnesses said.

"The number of casualties that police have taken tohospital is four martyred," interior ministry spokesmanZemarai Bashary told AFP.

Health ministry spokesman Ghulam Sakhi Nuroghli saidthat 29 wounded had been registered by a hospital close to thescene of the blast.

"And one of the wounded is in a critical condition,"Nuroghli told AFP.

Bashary would not say if the bomb targeted an NDSvehicle, but an NDS official at the scene said the minibus wascarrying its employees to work when it was struck by theblast.

Witnesses reported seeing fragments of a motorcycleand human body parts likely to be from a suicide attacker.

An AFP photographer on the scene said that a minibusand car had been badly damaged in the blast, which took placein front of a psychiatric hospital and close to a mosque justafter 8:00 am (0900 IST).

The last bomb blast in Kabul came on January 4 when apoliceman was killed and three people were wounded as theofficer tried to defuse a homemade bomb.

The last major attack in the Afghan capital came lastmonth, when two suicide bombers targeted an Afghan army bus,killing five military personnel.

There are about 140,000 international troops inAfghanistan fighting Taliban militants. (AFP)