Afghanistan, Dehdadi: Today, officials said, at least three people were killed and fourteen wounded when a suicide bomber attacked a bus filled with Afghan army personnel in Dehdadi district, not far from the Balkh provincial capital of Mazar-i-Sharif in northern Afghanistan just before 8.00 am.

The ministry put the number of wounded at eight, while Munir Ahmad Farhad, a spokesman for the Balkh provincial governor, said that 14, including three women, had been injured. The bomber detonated a suicide vest near the bus as it was carrying members of the army’s 209th Shaheen Corps, and all of the reported casualties were army employees, Farhad said.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the bombing in a statement released online. The statement named a resident of Wardak province, which neighbours the Afghan capital city of Kabul, as the attacker. Buses carrying military and government employees to and from work have been common targets for insurgent groups like the Taliban, who are seeking to topple the Western-backed government in Kabul and reimpose harsh Islamic rule 15 years after they were ousted form power.