Eight killed, 13 wounded in suicide bomb attack in Kabul

At least eight people were killed and 13 wounded after a suicide bomb attacker triggered an explosion on a bus carrying military personnel in the Afghan capital Kabul on Wednesday, officials said.

According to Dawn, the explosion happened in the heavily secured downtown area near Kabul University at a time of increasing attacks by the Taliban and other insurgents around Afghanistan, where the outcome of a presidential election is still not known.

Hashmat Stanekzai, a spokesman for Kabul's police chief. Stanekzai said the bus had been the bomber's target and at least five out of the eight killed were air force personnel.

Earlier, Afghan security forces claimed victory in a major battle against a Taliban offensive in the country's volatile Helmand province.

Interior ministry spokesman Sediq Sediqqi said that the Taliban offensive has been beaten back, adding their plans to gain territory and capture districts have totally been foiled.

He further said that some 260 of the terrorists and 28 Afghan forces personnel were killed in the fighting.

The victory comes following days of fighting seen as a test for the country's security forces as Nato-led troops prepare to pull out.

An Afghan army corps officer in Helmand said that the military also forced the Taliban to retreat from three other districts - Kajaki, Nawzad and Musa Qala - which they had attacked at the start of their offensive.

However, a Taliban spokesman, Yousuf Ahmadi, refuted the claim made by the government, saying that fighting was still going on in Sangin.