Kabul: A suicide bomber targeted a bus of Afghan armed forces in the fortified capital city Kabul, leaving at least eight people dead and over a dozen others injured.

Defence ministry spokesman Zahir Azimi confirmed the incident, saying eight personnel of the national army lost their lives in the attack and 13 others sustained injuries. The ill-fated bus, according to eyewitnesses at the site of the blast, belonged to the air force of the militancy-plagued country.

Immediately after the deadly suicide bombing, Taliban militants who have been fighting in the southern Helmand province to strengthen their hold, claimed responsibility for the attack in Kabul.

Meanwhile, the Afghan interior ministry in a statement released here termed the suicide bombing as a cowardly terrorist attack and strongly condemned it.