A Taliban bomber blew up a police bus in the heart of Kabul yesterday, killing 24 people in one of the deadliest suicide strikes to hit Afghanistan since the Taliban was ousted in 2001.
The blast tore apart the bus, wounding dozens of bystanders and wrecking several other vehicles. It was the fifth suicide attack in three days, suggesting an escalation in the use of the tactic.
Official death tolls changed throughout the day, reflecting chaos at the scene and in hospitals. Police initially said more than 35 people were killed, but officials revised that down to 24.
However, this would still make it one of the deadliest suicide bombs since the Taliban was toppled, and the worst insurgent bomb attack of any kind since a car bomb killed 26 in 2002.
President Hamid Karzai condemned the attack, calling it an attempt to block the training of Afghanistan's western-led police force.