Kabul: Suicide bombing death toll climbs to 24 , 42 reportedly wounded

Kabul: On Monday, at least 24 people have been killed after a car bomb struck a bus carrying government employees in western Kabul today, an official said. 42 are also reportedly wounded. No militant group immediately claimed the blast. The blast came as the Taliban have stepped up attacks across the country in recent days. 9:40 a.m. An Afghan government official says the death toll from a suicide car bombing in a western neighborhood of Kabul has climbed to 24. The official says 42 people were wounded in the attack early on Monday morning. Kabul police chief spokesman Basir Mujahed says the bomber targeted a bus carrying employees of the mines and petroleum ministry. He said all the dead and wounded are civilians. The suicide bomber rammed his car into a minibus carrying the government employees. The Interior Ministry in a statement called the attack a "criminal attack against humanity." No one has claimed responsibility for the attack but in the past, both the Taliban and the Islamic State affiliate in Afghanistan has staged assaults in the Afghan capital. 8:25 a.m. An Afghan government official says the death toll in a suicide car bombing in a western neighborhood of Kabul has climbed to 12. Another 10 people were injured in the early Monday morning attack, said Interior Ministry spokesman Najib Danish. All the dead and wounded were civilians, he said. Eyewitnesses said the suicide bomber seemed to target a minibus. It wasn't known whether the bus carried government employees but Danish said police were on the scene investigating. No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack. 7:45 a.m. An Afghan health ministry official says two people were killed and another two injured in a suicide car bomb attack in a western neighborhood of Kabul early Monday morning. Health ministry spokesman Waheed Majrooh told The Associated Press two people died in the explosion along with the suicide bomber. Another two people were hurt, although the extent of their injuries was not immediately known. Several prominent political leaders, such as Hazara leader Mohammad Mohaqiq, live in western Kabul. The area has been the scene of several attacks including the suicide attack that killed prominent Shiite Muslim cleric Ramazan Hussainzada last month. Hussainzada was also a senior leader of Afghanistan's Hazara community.