Taliban suicide bomber targets Kabul army bus

The bomber struck on a main street in the heavily secured Afghan capital, where the Taliban have already claimed responsibility for suicide attacks on the intelligence and traffic police headquarters this year.

Western officials say the trend reflects a shift in strategy, away from focusing on the US-led NATO combat mission, which is due to withdraw next year, to targeting Afghan forces preparing to take over.

"At around 7:10 am (0240 GMT), a suicide attacker on foot targeted a military bus in third district of Kabul city," said police spokesman Hashmatullah Stanikzai.

He said six members of the defence ministry and four civilians were wounded, revising upwards an initial toll of six wounded. Most of the civilian injuries were caused by shattered glass, he added.

A witness told the TOLO television channel that the bomber was carrying an umbrella to shield himself from snow.

"I was standing across the street when I saw a man holding an umbrella approach the army bus. He then slid under the bus. I thought he was the driver, but moments later the explosion happened," he said.

A spokesman for the Taliban, which is leading an 11-year fight against the Western-backed government, claimed responsibility for the attack.

Spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid told AFP that 17 personnel were killed and 17 others were seriously injured. The Taliban routinely exaggerate the tolls from attacks they claim.

Among the nine attacks recorded by AFP in Afghanistan so far this year, only one of them, on January 25, targeted NATO troops, in the troubled eastern province of Kapisa. Five civilians were killed in that attack.

All other attacks have targeted tribal elders, police or Afghan intelligence agents.

"Since the start of the year, the objective has mainly been Afghans, even if NATO remains a target," a Western security official told AFP.

The Pentagon admitted Tuesday that NATO's International Security Assistance Force had wrongly reported a seven percent decline in Taliban attacks last year, saying that the number was in fact roughly the same as in 2011.

"This is a regrettable error in our database systems that was discovered during a routine quality check. We are making the appropriate adjustments," Pentagon spokesman George Little said.

The US government and NATO have repeatedly touted a purported drop in insurgent attacks as proof that the Taliban are on the retreat. The error raised questions about how governments and commanders are portraying the war effort.

The accurate number for insurgent attacks in 2012 showed the assaults had remained at the same level as in 2011, at more than 3,000, a US defence official said.

The United States and NATO have around 100,000 troops in Afghanistan but the vast majority will leave next year, with an estimated 352,000 NATO-trained Afghan police and soldiers taking over.