KABUL (Reuters) - Two Taliban suicide bombers on Thursday killed at least 27 people and wounded around 40 in an attack on buses carrying newly graduated cadets on the western outskirts of Kabul, officials said.

The attacks underline the threat to security in Afghanistan about a week ahead of a NATO summit in Warsaw, where leaders are expected to discuss whether to maintain support for the Kabul government 15 years after the Taliban were driven from power.

The green buses, clearly identifiable as police vehicles, were attacked and partially destroyed as they approached the capital from neighboring Wardak province, leaving debris strewed across the road.

An Interior Ministry official said at least 27 people were killed and 40 wounded in the attack during Islam's holy month of Ramadan. In a statement, the Taliban said around 150 police had been killed and dozens more injured.

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said the first attack targeted a bus carrying police cadets and instructors. Then, as rescuers and emergency services arrived, a second bomber rammed his car, packed with explosives, into their vehicles, killing dozens.

The attacks were immediately condemned by NATO's Resolute Support mission in Afghanistan as well as President Ashraf Ghani, who called the incident a "crime against humanity".

"While Muslims are busy praying during this holy month of Ramadan, Taliban keep committing reprehensible crimes by killing innocent people and spreading fear and terror," he said in a statement.

He ordered an inquiry into how the Taliban could mount an apparently carefully planned operation, despite pledges of a security clampdown in Kabul following recent attacks.

Beyond the immediate impact, the attacks cast further doubt on any resumption of peace talks with the Taliban.

Even before the death of former leader Mullah Akhtar Mansour in a U.S. drone strike last month, prospects appeared remote after the Taliban refused to join talks sponsored by the United States, China and Pakistan.

Under new leader Mullah Haibatullah Akhundzada the insurgents have made clear they will continue attacks on the Western-backed government, and maintained their demand for international forces to quit the country.

Last week, the top U.N. official in Afghanistan warned of the danger of a new spiral of violence following recent suicide attacks and highway kidnappings.

The latest suicide bombings come 10 days after 14 people died in an attack on a bus carrying Nepali security guards working for the Canadian embassy in Kabul.

In April, 64 people were killed in a Taliban attack on a security services facility in Kabul, the deadliest such bombing since 2011.</s>MOSCOW (Sputnik) — No US troops stationed in Afghanistan were injured in the explosion in Kabul on Tuesday, a US military spokesman told Sputnik.

"There were no US troops injured in the explosion in Kabul today," Lt. Damien E. Horvath, Press Desk Chief of NATO Resolute Support Mission Afghanistan, said in an emailed statement.

Earlier media reports indicated that a blast occurred around 10 a.m. local time in the diplomatic quarter of Kabul, at a bank located close to the US embassy. A suicide bomber is suspected of having carried out the attack.

The Afghan Health Ministry told Sputnik earlier in the day that four people were killed and eight others were injured in the blast.

The statement comes in the wake of US President Donald Trump announcing a new US military strategy in Afghanistan last week, lifting Barack Obama administration’s restrictions on US forces ability to attack the Taliban terror group (outlawed in Russia) and other militants in the war-ravaged country.</s>KABUL, July 23 (Reuters) - Thousands of people from Afghanistan's Hazara minority demonstrated in the capital Kabul on Saturday to demand changes to the route of a planned multi-million dollar power transmission line.

The demonstrators are demanding that the 500 kV transmission line from Turkmenistan to Kabul be rerouted through two provinces with large Hazara populations, an option the government says would cost millions and delay the badly needed project by years.

Waving Afghan flags and chanting slogans like "Justice! Justice!" and "Death to discrimination!", demonstrators gathered near Kabul University, several kilometres from the main government area, which police sealed off.

Security was tight and helicopters patrolled overhead but there was no sign of trouble as the protest began.

The transmission line, intended to provide secure electricity to 10 provinces is part of a project backed by the Asia Development Bank aimed at linking energy-rich states of Central Asia with Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Hazaras say they want the transmission line to come through their area because that would ensure their power supply.

The government says the project already guarantees ample power to the provinces of Bamyan and Wardak, west of Kabul, where many Hazaras live, and denies accusations that it disadvantages Hazara people, a mainly Shia minority.

Under current plans, due to be implemented by 2018, the line will pass from a converter station in the northern town of Pul-e Khumri to Kabul through the mountainous Salang pass.

An earlier version of the plan foresaw a longer route from Pul-e Khumri through Bamyan and Wardak, but this option was subsequently dropped.

The Persian-speaking Hazara, estimated to make up about 9 percent of the population, are Afghanistan's third largest minority but they have long suffered discrimination. Thousands were killed during Taliban rule.

However, they are politically well organised and several of their leaders are part of President Ashraf Ghani's delicately balanced national unity government, which has added to the sensitivity surrounding the protests.

"We will not allow them to enjoy their time in palaces while those who voted for them stay in darkness," said demonstrator Mohammad Ali, 34.

Saturday's demonstration follows a protest in May, after which Ghani promised a committee of inquiry into the case. That committee however recommended sticking with the route through the Salang pass.

Strengthening and expanding Afghanistan's creaking power network is among the government's top development priorities as currently only 30 percent of the country is connected to the electricity system. (Writing by James Mackenzie; Editing by Robert Birsel)</s>At least 13 civilians, including women and children, were killed in an overnight air strike by Afghan security forces targeting the Taliban in western Herat province, an Afghan official said.

Gelani Farhad, spokesman for the provincial governor, said the attack in Shindand district also injured seven other civilians.

He said the target of Monday night's strike was a Taliban base and a prison run by the insurgents. The jail was destroyed and 19 inmates - both military and civilians - escaped.

Mr Farhad also said the civilians who were killed died in their homes adjacent to the Taliban base.

According to the spokesman, the air strikes also killed 16 Taliban militants.

The Taliban have not commented on the attack in Herat province and Mr Farhad's information could not be independently verified.

Meanwhile, on Tuesday morning, a suicide bomber killed at least five people in a busy commercial area of central Kabul, not far from the US Embassy, Afghan officials said.

Basir Mujahid, spokesman for the Kabul police chief, said the explosion was probably targeting a branch of the privately-owned Kabul Bank. The US Embassy compound is about 500 yards (metres) down the road from the Kabul Bank.

Mohammad Salim Rasouli, chief of Kabul hospitals at the Health Ministry, confirmed that nine other people were injured in the attack, according to initial reports.

No-one immediately claimed responsibility for the bombing, but the Taliban often target banks, especially at the end of the month when civil servants and military personnel queue up to receive their salaries, or ahead of major Muslim holidays.</s>KABUL (Reuters) - Suspected militants stormed the Kabul campus of the American University of Afghanistan on Wednesday with some students jumping from second floor windows to escape the gunfire and explosions, witnesses and officials said.

Foreign staff and dozens of pupils were trapped in the compound hours after the attack began at about 6:30 p.m. (10 a.m. ET).

News of casualties was sketchy, but the head of hospitals in the Afghan capital said at least one person had been killed and 14 students wounded in the assault.

"Many students jumped from the second floor, some broke their legs and some hurt their head trying to escape," Abdullah Fahimi, a student who escaped, told Reuters. He injured his ankle making the leap.

"We were in the class when we heard a loud explosion followed by gunfire. It was very close. Some students were crying, others were screaming."

A senior interior ministry official said that elite Afghan forces had surrounded the university and witnesses at the scene said special forces had entered the walled compound where gunfire that had lasted for more than an hour had since stopped.

"There are two gunmen hiding inside the building and a clearing operation is ongoing to eliminate them," interior ministry spokesman, Sediq Sediqqi, said.

Ahmad Mukhtar, another student who fled the scene, said the gunmen had got into the university buildings despite security measures including three or four armed guards and watchtowers.

He added that he believed the attack had started at the main gate into the compound.

"I finished my class and was about to leave when I heard a few gunshots and a huge explosion, followed by more gunfire," he said. "I ran toward the emergency exit with other students, climbed the wall and jumped outside."

Kabul police chief, Abdul Rahman Rahimi, told Reuters that the attack began with a car bomb and several attackers had entered the campus.

Islamist militant groups, mainly the Afghan Taliban and a local offshoot of Islamic State, have claimed a string of recent atrocities aimed at destabilizing the country and toppling the Western-backed government of President Ashraf Ghani.

No one has claimed the university attack.

It is the second time this month that the university or its staff have been targeted.

Two teachers, an American and an Australian, remain missing after being abducted at gunpoint from a road nearby on Aug. 7.

Taliban insurgents control large swathes of Afghanistan, and local armed forces are struggling to contain them, especially in the provinces of Helmand to the south and Kunduz to the north.

NATO ended its combat mission in December 2014, but thousands of troops remain to train and assist Afghan forces, while several thousand more U.S. soldiers are engaged in a separate mission focusing on al Qaeda and Islamic State.</s>KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — The Latest on developments in Afghanistan (all times local):

An Afghan official says at least 13 civilians, including women and children, were killed in an overnight airstrike by the Afghan security forces that targeted the Taliban in western Herat province.

Gelani Farhad, spokesman for the provincial governor, said on Tuesday that the airstrike in Shindand district also wounded seven other civilians.

He says the target of Monday night’s strike was a Taliban base and a prison run by the insurgents. The prison was destroyed and 19 prisoners — both military and civilians escaped.

Farhad also said that the civilians who were killed died in their homes just next to the Taliban base.

According to the spokesman, the airstrikes also killed 16 Taliban militants. The Taliban have not commented on the attack in Herat province and Farhad’s information could not be independently verified.

Afghan officials say a suicide bombing has killed at least five people in a busy commercial area in central Kabul, not far from the U.S. Embassy.

Basir Mujahid, spokesman for the Kabul police chief, says Tuesday’s explosion likely targeted a branch of the privately owned Kabul Bank. The U.S. Embassy compound is located about 500 meters (yards) down the road from the Kabul Bank.

Mohammad Salim Rasouli, chief of Kabul hospitals at the Health Ministry, confirmed that the attack also wounded nine people, according to initial reports.

No one claimed responsibility for the bombing, but the Taliban often target banks, especially at the end of the month when civil servants and military personnel line up to receive their salaries, or ahead of major Muslim holidays.

Copyright © 2017 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, written or redistributed.</s>KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — The Latest on developments in Afghanistan (all times local):

An Afghan official says at least 13 civilians, including women and children, were killed in an overnight airstrike by the Afghan security forces that targeted the Taliban in western Herat province.

Gelani Farhad, spokesman for the provincial governor, said on Tuesday that the airstrike in Shindand district also wounded seven other civilians.

He says the target of Monday night’s strike was a Taliban base and a prison run by the insurgents. The prison was destroyed and 19 prisoners — both military and civilians escaped.

Farhad also said that the civilians who were killed died in their homes just next to the Taliban base.

According to the spokesman, the airstrikes also killed 16 Taliban militants. The Taliban have not commented on the attack in Herat province and Farhad’s information could not be independently verified.

Afghan officials say a suicide bombing has killed at least five people in a busy commercial area in central Kabul, not far from the U.S. Embassy.

Basir Mujahid, spokesman for the Kabul police chief, says Tuesday’s explosion likely targeted a branch of the privately owned Kabul Bank. The U.S. Embassy compound is located about 500 meters (yards) down the road from the Kabul Bank.

Mohammad Salim Rasouli, chief of Kabul hospitals at the Health Ministry, confirmed that the attack also wounded nine people, according to initial reports.

No one claimed responsibility for the bombing, but the Taliban often target banks, especially at the end of the month when civil servants and military personnel line up to receive their salaries, or ahead of major Muslim holidays.</s>WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House on Saturday condemned an attack at a demonstration in Kabul that left more than 80 people dead and hundreds wounded. [

"This heinous attack was made all the more despicable by the fact that it targeted a peaceful demonstration," the White House said in a statement.

"We remain committed to work jointly with the Afghan security forces and countries in the region to confront the forces that threaten Afghanistan’s security, stability, and prosperity," the White House said.</s>KABUL (Reuters) - At least one student was killed and 14 wounded when gunmen attacked the American University of Afghanistan in Kabul on Wednesday, the head of the city's hospitals, Mohammad Saleem Rasouly, told Reuters.

Reporting by Hamid Shalizi; Writing by Mike Collett-White; editing by Mark Heinrich</s>An Afghan official says at least 13 civilians, including women and children, were killed in an overnight airstrike by the Afghan security forces that targeted the Taliban in western Herat province.

Gelani Farhad, spokesman for the provincial governor, said on Tuesday that the airstrike in Shindand district also wounded seven other civilians.

He says the target of Monday night's strike was a Taliban base and a prison run by the insurgents. The prison was destroyed and 19 prisoners — both military and civilians escaped.

Farhad also said that the civilians who were killed died in their homes just next to the Taliban base.

According to the spokesman, the airstrikes also killed 16 Taliban militants. The Taliban have not commented on the attack in Herat province and Farhad's information could not be independently verified.

Afghan officials say a suicide bombing has killed at least five people in a busy commercial area in central Kabul, not far from the U.S. Embassy.

Basir Mujahid, spokesman for the Kabul police chief, says Tuesday's explosion likely targeted a branch of the privately owned Kabul Bank. The U.S. Embassy compound is located about 500 (yards) down the road from the Kabul Bank.

Mohammad Salim Rasouli, chief of Kabul hospitals at the Health Ministry, confirmed that the attack also wounded nine people, according to initial reports.

No one claimed responsibility for the bombing, but the Taliban often target banks, especially at the end of the month when civil servants and military personnel line up to receive their salaries, or ahead of major Muslim holidays.
At least 11 Afghan civilians are killed and 16 wounded when a NATO helicopter attacked a house where Taliban insurgents had taken shelter in Logar Province, east of Kabul.