At least three people have been killed in yet another bomb attack in the Afghan capital, Kabul, just days after the Afghan government and the US struck a security deal.
According to reports on Wednesday, the incident took place after an Afghan military bus was targeted in the capital.
Several other people also suffered injuries in the deadly attack.
The bus was reportedly taking military staff to work.
Taliban militants, who have stepped up their strikes against Afghan government troops, foreign forces and civilians, have claimed responsibility for the attack.
A similar strike had claimed the lives of seven people and left two dozen wounded a day before.
The recent wave of violence comes two days after the new Afghan government and the United States inked a long-delayed security agreement for the presence of the US soldiers in the country beyond 2014.
The controversial Bilateral Security Agreement (BSA) was sealed by Afghan National Security Adviser Hanif Atmar and US Ambassador to Kabul James Cunningham on Tuesday, under to which about 10,000 American troops will stay in Afghanistan next year.
Former Afghan President Hamid Karzai, who had been in power since the US-led invasion of Afghanistan in 2001, had refused to sign the BSA.
Under the agreement, soldiers from Germany, Italy, and other NATO member states will join the remaining 9,800 US soldiers on the ground, raising the total number to about 12,500.
The deal grants immunity to US-led troops operating in the country. It also allows the US-led forces to carry out deadly night-time raids on Afghan homes, which has triggered widespread protests in Afghanistan.
The United States and its allies attacked Afghanistan in 2001 as part of Washington’s so-called war on terror. The offensive removed the Taliban from power, but insecurity remains in the country, despite the presence of tens of thousands of foreign troops.
