11 Afghani Policemen and 5 Civlilians Killed in Two Attacks

AP Headline: Suicide bomber kills 13 in Kabul

By AMIR SHAH Associated Press Writer

Oct 2, 2007, 5:36 AM EDT

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) --

A mother and her two children boarded a police bus only seconds before a suicide bomber detonated his payload inside, an attack that killed 13 police and civilians Tuesday, the second such bombing in Afghanistan's capital in four days, police and witnesses said.

Four children were among the 13 killed by a man wearing a pakul - an Afghan hat commonly worn in the country's north - and a shawl around the upper half of his body called a chador, said witness Amin Gul, who owns a metal-working shop next to the blast site.

"When the bus came, an old man got on, then a woman with two children, then the guy wearing the chador entered, and then a big boom," said Gul.

Ten people were wounded in the attack.

The seats in the front of the bus were covered in blood and small body parts. Ahmad Saqi, a 20-year-old mechanic, said he helped put seven people in vehicles for runs to the hospital, and that several of the wounded had no legs.

"One woman was holding a baby in her arms, and they were both killed," Saqi said. "Half of the woman's face was blown off."

The blast killed eight police, the mother, her two children and two other children, said Health Minister Mohammad Amin Fatemi. The children ranged in age from 2 to 8. The two unaccompanied children had been heading to a special school for handicapped students, he said.

"The woman's husband is working at the health ministry. How do we tell the father his wife and two kids are dead?" said Fatemi. "This attack goes against all of Islam. There is no reason to blow up Muslims, especially during the holy month of Ramadan. My message to these people: Please stop killing Muslims."

Several people waiting at the bus stop suspected the bomber of having explosives because he let one police bus go by without boarding it, said Saqi and another shop owner, Ajmal Khan.

Tuesday's explosion is the third attack in four months against police or army buses in Kabul.

On Saturday a suicide bomber wearing an army uniform blew himself up in an army bus, killing 30 people. In June a bomb ripped through a bus carrying police instructors in Kabul, killing 35 people, the deadliest insurgent attack since the 2001 U.S.-led invasion.

In other violence, (Taliban fighters) attacked a border security post in the northeastern province of Kunar, killing three police, said Zargun Shah Khaliqyar, the provincial governor's spokesman.

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