Kabul, June 30: Taliban militants launched a twin suicide attack Thursday, targeting a convoy of buses carrying Afghan police cadets outside of the capital and killing 37 people, mostly policemen, and wounding 40, an Afghan official said.
The attack took place in Paghman district, some 20 km west of Kabul, according to Mousa Rahmati, the district governor of Paghman. The first suicide attacker struck two buses carrying trainee policemen, and a second attacker targeted those who rushed to the scene to help and also hit a third bus, Rahmati said. He said that four civilians were among those killed.
The cadets were returning from a training centre in Wardak province and were heading to the capital on leave. The interior ministry said 30 police recruits had been killed and 58 others wounded in the attack. It was not immediately possible to reconcile the different casualty figures.
The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack in an email sent to AP by spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid, who said the attack was the work of two suicide bombers. Afghan President Ashraf Ghani described the bombing as an “attack on humanity” and ordered an interior ministry investigation into the incident. The attack was condemned by various countries, including the US and India. AP
