8 Civilians Killed in Bombing Near Kabul

KABUL, Afghanistan ? A man suspected of being an insurgent who had been arrested and then released by Afghan authorities detonated a remote-control bomb along a road outside Kabul on Tuesday, killing at least eight people in a packed bus, the Afghan police said.

The attack was brazen even by the standards of the war in Afghanistan, where thousands of civilians have been killed in Taliban bombings and, to a lesser extent, coalitions raids and airstrikes. The assailant , according to the police, was standing in plain sight along a busy road to Kabul when he set off the bomb under a small bridge about an hour?s drive from the city.

Those killed had all been on their way to work in the capital when the bomb ripped through the bus around 5:30 a.m., shortly after dawn and the start of the daily fast for the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, said Col. Amrullah, the police chief in Paghman district, which is part of Kabul Province. The colonel, like many Afghans, uses only one name.

Colonel Amrullah identified the suspect as a man named Hujratullah, who is believed to be 20 to 22 years old. Mr. Hujratullah was arrested about two years ago in the same area and handed over to the National Directorate of Security, Afghanistan?s intelligence service, Colonel Amrullah said.

He could not say when or why Mr. Hujratullah was released, and the security directorate did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The Taliban offered no immediate comment on the bombing. But the insurgents have sought to portray themselves as the protectors of Afghan civilians, and they have repeatedly denied taking part in attacks that kill innocent people.

According to Colonel Amrullah and witnesses, Mr. Hujratullah was seen near the road when he set off the bomb using a detonator activated by a remote control. The bomb itself was little more than a plastic container packed with explosives ? a common construction for what are known as improvised explosive devices.

Mr. Hujratullah was arrested with the remote control and unused explosives, Colonel Amrullah said.

Along with the eight people killed, another five were wounded and taken to Kabul for treatment, Colonel Amrullah said.

An employee of The New York Times contributed reporting from Kabul, Afghanistan.

Source: http://feeds.nytimes.com/click.phdo?i=e7db1a3be194d55ea57d727ebf78acf2

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