Bomb Blast In Kabul, At least 36 Killed

At least 36 people were killed and several wounded on Monday after a Taliban-claimed car bomb struck a bus carrying government employees through a Shiite neighbourhood in Kabul, raising fears of sectarian violence in the Afghan capital.

The assault came as a presidential spokesman said the Taliban also killed at least 35 civilians in an attack on a hospital in central Ghor province over the weekend. The deadly attacks underscore spiralling insecurity in Afghanistan as the resurgent Taliban ramp up their offensive across the country, while security forces struggle to contain them.

After the explosion, the bus's charred remains were left smoking in the middle of the road as the wounded were rushed to hospitals in ambulances as well as private cars and taxis.

Afghan presidential spokesman Shah Hussain Murtazawi put the toll at 26 dead and 41 wounded.

Ghor is a poor, mountainous province that has been relatively safe in the past but shares a border with the Taliban-infested provinces of Helmand and Farah. Afghan forces control 59.7 per cent of the country, according to a US watchdog's report issued in May after the winter lull in fighting, up slightly from the previous quarter.

Kabul is regularly rocked by suicide bombs and assaults. A recent UN report showed that attacks on the capital accounted for nearly one-fifth of all civilian Afghan casualties in the first half of 2017.