Taliban claims responsibility for attack killing 30 in Afghan capital

KABUL, Afghanistan â€”  Two suicide bombs targeted a minibus in west Kabul on Tuesday, killing at least 30 people and wounding 80, Afghan officials said.

A suicide bomber drove an explosives-packed vehicle toward the minibus as it neared the Afghan parliament building and then detonated the explosives, said Sediq Sediqqi, a spokesman for the Interior Ministry.

A second explosion occurred moments later, after people rushed to help the victims of the first blast, Sediqqi said.

Wahidullah Majroh, a spokesman for the Ministry of Public Health, said many of the wounded and the bodies of the dead had arrived at hospitals, “and we are working to identify the victims.�

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack, saying in a brief statement that the target was “Afghan intelligence forces.�

Hasib Sediqi, spokesman for the Afghan intelligence agency, the National Directorate of Security, denied that the agency was the target. The compound near the blast used to belong to the agency but now is a parliament facility, he said.

Abdul Hakim, who lives near the bombing site, said he saw a scene of chaos.

“I ran outside with my brother and saw several vehicles taking the injured,� said Hakim, 20. “I saw more than 40 people, including security forces, were killed and injured.�

Ghulam Faroq Naziri, a lawmaker from Herat province in western Afghanistan, said another member of parliament from that province, Rahima Jami, was wounded, the Associated Press reported.

Separately, five people were killed and 12 injured when an explosion struck a guesthouse belonging to the governor of the southern province of Kandahar.

Kandahar Gov. Humayun Azizi and the United Arab Emirates’ ambassador to Kabul, Juma Kaabi, were wounded in the blast, said the governor’s spokesman, Samim Khpalwak. The deputy governor, Abdul Ali Shamsi, was among those killed, police said.

No group immediately claimed responsibility for that attack.

Faizy is a special correspondent.

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UPDATES:

11 a.m.: This article was updated with details on victims of the Kandahar explosion.

8:50 a.m.: This article was updated with a separate blast in Kandahar province.

8:25 a.m.: This article was updated with the new toll of dead and wounded.

6:25 a.m.: This article was updated throughout with staff reporting, including a death toll.

5:54 a.m.: This article was updated with reports of injuries.

This article was originally published at 5:25 a.m.