Kunduz, Afghanistan:
A Taliban suicide blast hit an army recruitment centre in northern Afghanistan today, killing 36 people and wounding another 42 in the second attack on the base in three months.
The deadly blast is the latest in a string of attacks on Afghan security forces as they prepare to take responsibility for stability in parts of their war-torn country ahead of a total withdrawal of foreign combat troops by 2014.
The attack at the centre in Kunduz came four days after the province's police chief was killed by a suicide bomber amid an upsurge in violence in the area in recent months.
"There was a suicide attack at the army recruitment centre in Kunduz city," Mehboubullah Sayedi, a spokesman for the governor of Kunduz province, said of the latest attack.
He said that according to "preliminary information" 33 people were killed, mostly volunteers who wanted to join the army, and more than 40 others injured.
Kargar Noorughli, a public health ministry spokesman in Kabul, later said the death toll had risen to 36, including women and children.
Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahed told the newsmen by telephone from an unknown location that the militant Islamist group was responsible for the bombing, the latest in a host of deadly attacks across Afghanistan in recent weeks.
"One of our comrades carried out a suicide attack against the army recruitment centre in Kunduz," Mujahed confirmed, saying that the bomber had walked into the facility with bombs strapped to his body.
It was the second attack on the army recruitment centre this year, after eight security personnel died when militants armed with suicide vests attacked in December.
Today's blast was condemned by Afghan President Hamid Karzai, who said four children were among those killed.
Karzai called it a "vile attack" and "an unforgivable act of terror against those who wanted to join in army ranks to protect their nation".