KABUL, Afghanistan, September 29, SPA -- A suicide bomber wearing an Afghan army uniform set off a huge explosion early Saturday while trying to board a military bus in the capital,killing 30 people and wounding 30, officials said. TheTaliban claimed responsibility. The blast ripped off the roof of the bus and tore out itssides, leaving a charred hull of burnt metal. The bombingmirrored the country's deadliest ever suicide attack just afew months earlier, when a bomber boarded a police bus inJune and killed 35. Dozens of civilians and police officers picked through thesite in search of bodies Saturday. «For 10 or 15 seconds, it was like an atom bomb _ fire,smoke and dust everywhere,» said Mohammad Azim, a policeofficer who witnessed the explosion. President Hamid Karzai said 30 people were killed _ 28soldiers and two civilians. The Health Ministry saidanother 30 were wounded. «It was a terrible tragedy, no doubt an act of extremecowardice,» Karzai said. A purported Taliban spokesman, Zabiullah Mujahid, claimedthe militant group was responsible for the blast in a textmessage to The Associated Press. Mujahid said the bomberwas a Kabul resident named Azizullah.--SPA www.spa.gov.sa/486713