Bombs Target Schoolchildren, Policemen in Afghanistan

A suspected militant on a motorbike threw a hand grenade at the gates of a school in north Afghanistan on Sunday, injuring 17 children, the interior ministry said in a statement.

The incident took place in Maimana, the main city of Faryab province, the ministry said, adding that the children had been taken to hospital, with two in a serious condition.

"Seventeen school students were wounded when a terrorist gunman riding a motorbike threw a hand grenade at the main gate," said the statement, which condemned the attack.

"Police have arrested the gunman who committed this action."

Also Sunday, a bomb exploded next to a police post near the parliament building in Kabul, injuring three officers, police and the interior ministry said.

The blast is the first in the capital since a major Taliban attack at a landmark hotel last Thursday in which 21 people were killed.

"It was an explosion near a police post. Three officers are injured and investigations to determine the cause of the explosion are underway," Kabul police spokesman Hashmat Stanikzai told Agence France Presse.

The interior ministry in a statement said the explosion was triggered by an improvised explosive device, or IED, the Taliban's weapon of choice.

It said the three wounded had been taken to hospital for treatment.