Afghan capital rocked by blasts

The blast hit buses carrying government employees to work

One person has been killed and at least 40 others wounded in three bomb explosions in the Afghan capital, Kabul, police say.

It is the second day in a row that blasts have struck the city. Seven people were injured on Tuesday.

Separately, US-led forces in Afghanistan say they have killed 35 militants during a raid on a Taleban compound in the south of the country.

A statement said the attack took place on Tuesday night in Helmand province.

QUICK GUIDE

Afghanistan

Violence by the Taleban and their allies has escalated in Afghanistan this year, with hundreds killed - the worst violence since they were forced from power in 2001.

Most of the bloodshed has been in the south and east.

Shops 'on fire'

The first explosion in Kabul is said to have struck a bus carrying Afghan army officers to work in the city centre.

It was lucky the bus was not full or else there would have been more casualties Defence Ministry spokesman Mohammed Zahir Azimi

Reports say the bus veered out of control and crashed into shops, setting them on fire.

The second explosion struck another bus that was carrying commerce ministry employees in the north of the city.

A third explosion in eastern Kabul is said to have targeted an Afghan army convoy. There were no immediate reports of casualties.

It is not yet clear who is behind the blasts.

The first two explosions were apparently caused by bombs going off in hand carts as the buses passed by.

"There were explosives in a cart on the road side and while the bus was passing by, the explosion took place," Kabul police official Ali Shah Paktiawal told AFP news agency, describing the first blast.

A BBC correspondent at the scene described seeing people jumping out of the smashed windows of the bus, their clothes on fire.

A defence ministry spokesman, Mohammed Zahir Azimi, said 40 army officers were wounded, many of them "lightly".

A passenger on the second bus, government worker Noor Hak Stanezai, told the Associated Press the bus was carrying 16 workers. A passer-by died in the explosion.

"It was lucky the bus was not full or else there would have been more casualties," he said.

Witnesses told reporters there were bloodstains inside the bus and the shrapnel from the bomb had damaged the vehicle.

Wednesday's blasts came a day after seven people were injured in two similar explosions in Kabul.