At least 35 people have been killed and 42 wounded after a Taliban car bomb struck a bus carrying government employees in western Kabul on Monday, officials said, the latest attack to strike the Afghan capital.
The UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), which has been documenting civilian casualties since 2009, said in its recent report that 1,662 civilians were killed and more than 3,500 injured in the first six months of the year.
Kabul's Hazara community were due Monday to mark the one-year anniversary of an attack in the heart of the capital that killed 84 and wounded more than 300 people, mostly members of the ethnic minority.
The suicide car bomb attack has been claimed by Taliban, which has stepped up attacks across the country in recent days, with several new districts falling to the resurgent militant group over the weekend.
It is also near the home of prominent politician and former warlord Mohammad Mohaqeq. Omid Maisom Mohaqiq, a spokesman for the politician, said the bomb had detonated near the first checkpoint approaching the house, \"killing and wounding some civilians\".
The blast hit an area of the capital that is home to many Shiite Hazaras, a persecuted ethnic minority who have been targeted many times in the past.
Kabul is regularly rocked by suicide bombs and attacks.