JALALABAD, Afghanistan – Officials in Afghanistan say at least 12 army recruits have been killed in a suicide bomb attack in the country’s eastern city of Jalalabad.

Initial reports say that a suicide bomber on a motorcycle rammed into a bus carrying the staff of the Afghan National Army. The attack took place in a crowded area in the Sorkh Rud district of Nangarhar province, which borders Pakistan.

Ahsanullah Shinwari, head of the Jalalabad hospital, said on Monday that 12 bodies at least 38 wounded had been taken to the hospital in the city, 125 kilometres from the capital Kabul.

Another 38 people were wounded, most of them in critical condition, he said.

The number of casualties is expected to rise.

Hours earlier, a bomb hit a mini-bus carrying Education Ministry workers in eastern Kabul, killing two people and wounding seven, the defence ministry said.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for either attack. Government workers and members of the security forces are often targeted by insurgent groups, including the Taliban, who are seeking to topple the US-backed government in Kabul.

A spokesman for the Taliban has said the Islamist group was not aware of either of the attacks.

The Taliban have stepped up their insurgency since most foreign troops withdrew from Afghanistan at the end of 2014, although Kabul had enjoyed a period of relative calm during the harsh winter months.

That break was expected to end soon with the Taliban poised to launch their annual spring offensive.

– with Reuters