A BOMB EXPLODED IN DOWNTOWN KABUL, WOUNDING AT LEAST 10 PEOPLE, AND FIVE AFGHAN LABORERS WERE AMBUSHED AND FATALLY SHOT ON THEIR WAY TO A U.S. MILITARY BASE IN EASTERN AFGHANISTAN, POLICE AND OFFICIALS SAID TUESDAY. THE BOMB THAT WENT OFF IN THE AFGHAN CAPITAL HAD BEEN PLANTED IN A HAND CART BEHIND A CAR, SAID POLICE OFFICIAL MOHAMMED NABI. THE EXPLOSION TOOK PLACE AT A BUSY TRAFFIC INTERSECTION NEAR THE PRESIDENTIAL PALACE, SHATTERING WINDOWS AT A CINEMA AND THE NEARBY JUSTICE MINISTRY, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS REPORTED. TEN PEOPLE WERE WOUNDED BY THE BLAST, ACCORDING TO HEALTH MINISTRY OFFICIAL BUZ MOHAMMAD QADIRI. FOUR HAD MINOR INJURIES AND WERE TREATED AND RELEASED. SIX OTHERS REMAIN HOSPITALIZED, HE SAID. «WE DON'T KNOW WHAT WAS THE TARGET OF THIS BOMB,» SAID ALI SHAH PAKTIAWAL, CRIMINAL DIRECTOR OF KABUL POLICE, ADDING THAT AN INVESTIGATION WAS UNDER WAY.
