Kabul suicide bomb kills civilian

There have been a string of suicide attacks in Kabul

One civilian has been killed and two others injured in a suicide car bombing in the Afghan capital, Kabul, interior ministry officials say.

The interior ministry said the attacker targeted an army bus close to the city centre. The device is thought to have gone off early.

The army bus and a passing taxi were damaged in the blast, police said.

Thursday's attack was the latest in a string of suicide attacks in the capital in recent months.

Earlier this month at least six people were killed in an attack by Taleban fighters on a luxury hotel in the Afghan capital.

The dead included a Norwegian journalist and a US citizen as well as a number of security guards.

Thursday morning's blast happened in the capital's Taimani neighbourhood, police said.

Eyewitness Mohammad Sharif said he heard the explosion when he was sitting in a neighbourhood mosque.

"I ran out. Police at the roundabout starting shooting in the air. I saw a man screaming, lying on the road with his bicycle," Mr Sharif, 16, told the AFP news agency.

In December the Taleban carried out two suicide bombings in Kabul, killing 13 people in one attack.

Later that month, a rocket attack near the Kabul governor's residence killed five people.

Security in much of Afghanistan has deteriorated in the past two years as the Taleban have renewed their attacks on Afghan security forces and Western troops.

US-led forces toppled the Taleban government in late 2001.