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Suicide bomber strikes in Kabul | Suicide bomber strikes in Kabul |
(30 minutes later) | |
At least 12 people have died after a suicide bomber blew himself up outside the interior ministry in the Afghan capital, Kabul, officials say. | |
An interior ministry spokesman said 42 people, including two policeman, had been injured in the blast. | |
The attacker detonated explosives at a busy gate outside the ministry building as staff arrived at work, police said. | The attacker detonated explosives at a busy gate outside the ministry building as staff arrived at work, police said. |
It is the latest in a number of explosions in Kabul this year, despite high security in the capital. | It is the latest in a number of explosions in Kabul this year, despite high security in the capital. |
Earlier, a health ministry spokesman said 54 people had been injured, but added that it was difficult to determine the numbers because casualties had been taken to several different hospitals. | |
Bodies recovered | |
The explosion took place shortly before 0800 local time (0330 GMT) on a narrow dirt road where interior ministry employees queue to pass through a security gate. | The explosion took place shortly before 0800 local time (0330 GMT) on a narrow dirt road where interior ministry employees queue to pass through a security gate. |
The BBC's Dan Isaacs at the scene says a man seen acting suspiciously was challenged by security officers, and blew up explosives as he tried to run away. | The BBC's Dan Isaacs at the scene says a man seen acting suspiciously was challenged by security officers, and blew up explosives as he tried to run away. |
"The bomber ran into the area (past the checkpoint), and the policeman took out his gun - this all happened very fast - and then the guy detonated himself," Ahmed Ramin, 18, told the Associated press. | |
"We saw lots of people killed and injured on the streets." | |
Policeman Laal Agha told the French news agency AFP he had seen the bodies of four of his colleagues killed in the explosion. | |
And an interior ministry official who did not want to be named told the news agency he had pulled the bodies of three shopkeepers from shops destroyed in the blast. | And an interior ministry official who did not want to be named told the news agency he had pulled the bodies of three shopkeepers from shops destroyed in the blast. |
School nearby | |
An American journalist who was at the scene minutes after the blast said the dead and injured were ferried away in buses and that there were children among the casualties. | |
The attack took place across the road from a school, although the children were already in their lessons when the bomber struck. | |
Emergency service personnel have been hosing blood from the area and sweeping away shattered glass. | |
A Taleban spokesman has claimed responsibility for the bombing. | |
Attacks by the militant group have been increasing in recent weeks. | |
In the capital earlier this month a suicide bomber struck outside the compound housing the US embassy, killing at least 16 people, two of them American soldiers. | In the capital earlier this month a suicide bomber struck outside the compound housing the US embassy, killing at least 16 people, two of them American soldiers. |