Bomb rips through bus in Afghanistan

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan -- An explosion ripped through a bus and heavy fighting erupted between government soldiers and Taliban remnants Wednesday, one of the bloodiest days in Afghanistan since U.S.-led forces ousted the hard-line Islamic regime.

The bus bombing killed 15 civilians -- six of them children; the death toll for Wednesday -- including two explosions and gunbattles in two provinces -- was 58.

The deaths were part of a trend of stepped-up attacks and killings that are increasing the pressure on the fragile Afghan government.

Officials were quick to blame al-Qaida insurgents and Taliban loyalists for the bus explosion in Nadh Ali district.

"The Taliban do not want peace in the country. They don't want a government to be established. That's why they want to create instability and make the people of Afghanistan afraid," Ghulam Mahauddin, a district administrator, told The Associated Press by telephone.

He also speculated that the blast was an accident: Someone may have been transporting explosives to carry out a terror attack in Lashkargah when the bomb went off prematurely.

"We're investigating all possibilities," Mahauddin said. "Right now, we don't think it was a suicide bomber or that it was a remote-controlled device. It seems that someone placed the bomb in the bus. Whoever did this is an enemy of Afghanistan."

Five civilians including the driver were wounded in the blast, three of them seriously.

The explosion was one of the deadliest incidents since a car bomb killed 30 people and wounded 150 others in the capital, Kabul, on Sept. 5, 2002.

Meanwhile, fighting between Afghan troops and suspected Taliban militants broke out late Tuesday and continued early Wednesday in Shinki, a village in eastern Khost province about four miles from the Pakistan frontier, said Ghafar Khan, who commands a border police battalion in area.

Khan said insurgents attacked three times Tuesday night to test their opponents' strength. A group of 80 attackers launched an all-out assault just before dawn Wednesday.

The two sides traded fire for three hours with rocket launchers and automatic weapons. A coalition fighter jet strafed a mountain twice, Khan said.

When it was over, the bloodied bodies of 16 insurgents were found on the battlefield. Khan said five Afghan soldiers were killed before the attackers retreated across the border into Pakistan.

Afghan troops captured two Arabs who had been wounded in the fight, Khan said. Their nationalities were not known.

Afghan officials have said Taliban rebels are using bases inside Pakistan to launch cross-border attacks. Suspected Taliban fighters have been stepping up attacks over the last several months in southern and eastern Afghanistan.

Also Wednesday, in southern Uruzgan province, district chief Haji Abdul Rahman said another commander loyal to the government, Thoran Amanullah, attacked his convoy. A firefight ensued, killing 20 of Rahman's men.

He said the long-standing feud was typical of fighting going on in several parts of Afghanistan, often between groups swearing allegiance to Karzai.

In Kabul, two university students died and one was seriously wounded when a bomb they were making -- apparently in preparation for a terrorist attack -- exploded by accident, police said.

The blast occurred at the home of one of the students, deputy police chief Khalil Aminzada said.

The wounded student was reportedly hospitalized in a coma, Aminzada said. No arrests were made.

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AP writer Amir Shah in Kabul contributed to this report.