Suicide bombers attack Afghan army buses

Two suicide attackers have targeted military buses in the Afghan capital Kabul killing at least seven people and wounding more than 20 early on Wednesday, just a day after the new government signed a security pact with the United States.

The first attacker hit a bus with Afghan National Army officers, killing seven and wounding 15 in west Kabul, said Kabul criminal investigation police chief Mohammad Farid Afzali.

The second attacker, who was also on foot, blew himself up in front of a second bus in northeast Kabul, wounding additional army personnel, Afzali said.

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid claimed responsibility for the attacks.

Afghan security officials have faced a resurgent Taliban in recent months, with an average of 18 Afghans killed every day this year, according to authorities.

Ashraf Ghani, sworn in Monday as Afghanistan’s new president, replaced Hamid Karzai in the country's first transfer of power since the 2001 U.S.-led invasion toppled the Taliban. On Tuesday, Ghani signed the pact Karzai had rejected. The deal allows about 10,000 American troops to remain in Afghanistan after the international combat mission ends on Dec. 31.

Observers had expressed fears that, without the stronger international forces agreed upon in the pact, the Taliban would be able to overpower Afghanistan’s new government. The group routinely claims responsibility for attacks and suicide bombings in the country.

The Taliban, fighting to oust foreign forces and the U.S-backed government, have taken advantage of paralysis in Kabul after the recent election to launch attacks in an attempt regain strategic territory in provinces such as Helmand in the south and Kunduz in the north.

The Taliban previously denounced the pact and repeated their objections on Tuesday, calling it a “sinister” plot by the U.S. to control Afghanistan and restore U.S. credibility internationally as a military superpower.

Al Jazeera and wire services