Suicide bomb attack on air force bus kills 9 in Kabul

Kabul: A suicide bomb in Kabul killed nine military officers on Wednesday in an attack on an air force bus, Afghan officials said, in the latest strike against the national security forces as US troops withdraw. [caption id=“attachment_1599183” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. AP[/caption] The Afghan capital has been relatively peaceful since the presidential election on 14 June, though there have been street demonstrations as politicians are locked in a dispute over vote fraud. “A suicide bomber targeted an ANA (Afghan National Army) bus this morning killing five ANA officers and wounding four in the west of Kabul,” Sediq Sediqqi, spokesman for the interior ministry, told AFP. “Five civilians were also wounded. It was an ANA airforce vehicle.” General Zahir Azimi, the defence ministry spokesman, confirmed the death toll and said the attack struck at 7:00 am (2:30 am GMT) as the military staff were being taken to work. Election day saw a sharp rise in nationwide violence, but there has not been a major attack in Kabul since 7 June, when 12 people were killed in a suicide strike against presidential candidate Abdullah Abdullah, who escaped unharmed. Abdullah has said he will reject the result of the on-going vote count, alleging massive fraud against him in the election race against his rival Ashraf Ghani. NATO’s 50,000-strong combat force will leave Afghanistan by December, though about 10,000 US troops will stay into next year if the new president signs a security deal with Washington. (With additional input from PTI)