12 dead in Taliban suicide attack
Insurgency is continuing across Afghanistan
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Saturday, 30, Sep 2006 07:41
At least 12 people have been killed after a suicide bomber detonated himself outside the Afghanistan interior ministry in Kabul.
Local police say that more than 40 people were injured in the blast, which took place at about 08:00 local time (04:30 BST).
The Taliban has already claimed responsibility for the attack, the latest to hit the Afghan capital.
Earlier this month 16 people died when a car-bomber drove into a military convoy outside the US embassy.
In today's suicide attack, officials have indicated that the number of injured may be closer to 55, with victims being taken to different hospitals.
Reports have suggested that a man fled from security officers outside the ministry after being seen to acting suspiciously before detonating himself.
The government building is opposite a school, but children are thought to have already begun lessons by the time of the attack, which appears to have been targeting ministry workers as they entered the building.
"The bomber blew himself up as ministry employees were getting off a bus at the ministry gate," senior police official Alishah Paktiawal told the Reuters news agency.
Afghanistan is going through its worst period of violence since the US-led coalition overthrew the Taliban in 2001.