A suicide bomber killed 12 Afghan police on a bus in Kabul on Tuesday, a police official said, the second such attack in the capital in four days.

"The report we have indicates that so far 12 police have been killed and 15 wounded," said the official who declined to be named.

A Taliban spokesman said the radical Islamic movement, which is fighting to topple the government and drive Western troops out of Afghanistan, was behind the attack.

The blast happened at the start of the morning rush hour on a narrow road in a shopping area in the city`s western outskirts.

The front of the bus was blown apart by the blast. Shop windows were shattered and blood and body parts strewn on the ground. A police officer at the scene said women were among the dead and he had picked up the bodies of a number of children.

"They are animals. They don`t have any respect for humanity," said Health Minister Mohammad Amin Fatemi at the site. "We can expect more attacks."

Ambulances rushed to the scene which was cordoned off by police.

"I was walking down the road when I saw a big explosion. I saw about 20 to 25 people dead on the bus," said witness Ajmal Shinwari.

Twenty-eight soldiers and two civilians were killed in a similar attack on a bus on Saturday.
sections: Accidents, World News