Suicide bombers strike in Kabul and Kunduz province

Four gunmen, including at least one suicide bomber, have attacked an army recruitment centre in northern Afghanistan, killing five members of the Afghan security forces, a local official said.

Insurgents also attacked a bus filled with army officers in the capital Kabul, wounding four.

In the attack in northern Kunduz province, militants stormed the recruitment centre at daybreak and at least one of them was able to detonate his explosives, said Hamdullah Danishi, the province's deputy governor. The blast shattered windows in nearby homes and gunshots could still be heard coming from the site hours later.

The dead included three Afghan soldiers and two police officers, he added.

Mr Danishi said three of the attackers were killed in the initial assault but one was still alive and fighting with government forces. Further details were not immediately available.

In the capital, insurgents ambushed a bus carrying Afghan army officers to work during the morning rush hour, according to witnesses and the Defence Ministry. They were about seven kilometres from downtown on Jalalabad Road - a main route into the city centre.

The shooting started at 8am and was still going on an hour and a half later.

A Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid claimed responsibility for the attack.