GHAZNI: A roadside bomb in Afghanistan exploded under a bus on Monday, killing nine people and wounding at least 22 in an attack by suspected Taliban militants, officials said.

“Today at around 8:00 am an IED (improvised explosive device) hit a bus,” Attaullah Khogyani, the governor's spokesman in Wardak province, southwest of Kabul, told AFP.

“At least 22 people are wounded and nine others, including a woman, are dead.”

Khogyani said Taliban militants who have been fighting for 11 years against the US-backed Kabul government were behind the attack.

The bus was a government service making daily trips between the capital Kabul and Ghazni.

“I helped evacuate several dead and wounded. There were lots of people in the bus. Only a few survived unhurt, others were killed and wounded,” eye witness Mohammad Sarwar told AFP by telephone.

Ghulam Farouq Wardak, the public health director of the province, confirmed that nine people had died and said there were three children among the wounded.

Several of those taken for medical treatment were described as in a critical condition.