At least four people were injured as a bomb exploded in a crowded area in Afghanistan's capital Saturday, soldiers from the ruling Taliban militia and hospital officials said.
The blast, which occurred close to the municipality office around 11 am (0630 GMT) damaged a wooden fence of a mosque being built near Zarnigar Park in Kabul's central district, witnesses said.
Doctors said two people were brought to the main Wazir Akbar Khan Hospital, while two others were admitted to the nearby Jamhuriat Hospital.
Among them was a woman. "She had a piece of wood peirced into her shoulder," a doctor at the Jamhuriat Hospital said.
Taliban soldiers cordoned off the area while workers started removing shattered pieces of wood from the site.
The bomb was placed on the road in a market area frequented by impoverished residents buying bread from a bakery set up by the World Food Programme.
Taliban security officials blamed the blast on Afghan opposition leader Ahmad Shah Masood whose forces have been resisting the Islamic militia in his northeastern stronghold.
"This is their job to disrupt security. They always muddy the water to fish like this," a Taliban official said.
Saturday's blast was the fifth in Kabul over the past 10 days. However previous bombs, which mostly exploded before dawn, caused no casualties.
On Thursday a bomb went off near Kabul airport, hours before the departure of Pakistani Interior Minister Moinuddin Haider after a two-day official visit to Afghanistan.
The hardline Islamic militia controls 90 percent of Afghanistan, with the opposition holding the remaining territory in the northeast -- KABUL (AFP)
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