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Bomb on army bus kills 30; Taliban takes credit

Afghanistan's president later offers to meet with militant leaders.

KABUL, Afghanistan - Wearing an army uniform, the suicide bomber easily blended in with soldiers as they waited outside a movie theater early Saturday for an army bus to take them to work.

When the bus arrived, officials began checking the soldiers' IDs and the bomber rushed forward, detonating explosives that ripped off the roof of the bus and tore out its sides, killing 30 people and leaving a charred hull of burned metal in the street.

"For 10 or 15 seconds, it was like an atom bomb - fire, smoke and dust everywhere," said Mohammad Azim, a police officer who witnessed the explosion.

The explosion - the second deadliest since the fall of the Taliban in 2001 - came hours before President Hamid Karzai offered to meet with Taliban leader Mullah Omar and give militants a position in his government in a dramatic peace overture.

Strengthening a call for negotiations he has made with increasing frequency in recent weeks, Karzai said he was willing to meet with the reclusive leader Omar and Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, a former prime minister and factional warlord leader.

"If I find their address, there is no need for them to come to me, I'll personally go there and get in touch with them," Karzai said. "Esteemed Mullah, sir, and esteemed Hekmatyar, sir, why are you destroying the country?"

Saturday's explosion was reminiscent of the deadliest attack in Afghanistan since the U.S.-led invasion, when a bomber boarded a police academy bus at Kabul's busiest transportation hub in June, killing 35 people.

"What's going on in this country? It is like this every day," said 45-year-old Habiba Nazhand, a school principal. "How long can we live in these conditions? It's intolerable."

Karzai called the bombing a "terrible tragedy, no doubt an act of extreme cowardice."

"Whoever did this was against people, against humanity, definitely against Islam," Karzai said. "A man who calls himself Muslim will not blow up innocent people in the middle of Ramadan," the Muslim holy month.

Karzai said 30 people were killed - 28 soldiers and two civilians. The Health Ministry said another 30 were wounded. Two women were among the dead, and 11 bodies were ripped apart so badly they had yet to be identified.

A purported Taliban spokesman, Zabiullah Mujahid, claimed the militant group was responsible for the blast in a text message to the Associated Press. Mujahid said the bomber was a Kabul resident named Azizullah.

More than 4,500 people have been killed in insurgency-related violence this year, according to an Associated Press tally of figures from Western and Afghan officials. The Taliban has launched more than 100 suicide attacks this year.

The U.S. Embassy in Kabul has said it does not support negotiations with Taliban fighters, labeling them as terrorists, although the United Nations and NATO have said an increasing number of Taliban fighters are interested in laying down their arms. NATO's ambassador to Afghanistan, Daan Everts, said this month that the alliance would look into the possibility of talks.

Karzai said he wanted negotiations with Taliban militants of Afghan origin "for peace and security." He ruled out talks with al-Qaida and other foreign fighters.

[Last modified September 30, 2007, 01:52:53]