Suicide bomber kills one and injures 15 in Kabul attack: Taliban insurgent targets bus carrying Afghan attorney general's staff

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A lone Taliban terrorist detonated his suicide vest beside the bus carrying staff working for the government

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One person was killed and a further 15 were wounded in the latest atrocity which was claimed by the Taliban

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The bomb blew out windows of nearby shops and houses according to Afghan security officials 

A spokesman said: 'These attacks... demonstrate [an] extreme level of atrocity by terrorists against innocent and defenseless civilian. 

The explosion blew out the windows of houses and shops nearby, Ahmad Reshad, a government employee who was near the blast site, told AFP.

The attack comes after a 20-member Afghan delegation on Sunday launched two-days of 'open discussion' with Taliban representatives in the Gulf emirate of Qatar -- in their latest effort to end Afghanistan's long war.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for Monday's attack on their Twitter account, claiming that 40 people were killed or wounded.

The Taliban are known to exaggerate and distort their public statements as part of a propaganda drive accompanying their campaign against the Afghan and US-led foreign forces who toppled them from power in 2001.

Scores of shuttle buses take government and military personnel to work every morning in the capital, and they have often been targeted by insurgents despite efforts by security forces to provide better protection.

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Debris from the bomb was scattered over a large area as locals began the cleanup process

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The attack is the latest atrocity connected with the Taliban's spring offensive against the government in Kabul

This year's Taliban offensive marks the first fighting season in which Afghan forces will battle the insurgents without the full support of US-led foreign combat troops.

NATO's combat mission formally ended in December but a small follow-up foreign force has stayed on to train and support local security personnel.

The Taliban launched their spring offensive across Afghanistan late last month, stepping up attacks on government and foreign targets and inflicting a heavy toll on civilians and Afghan security forces.

The number of civilians killed and wounded jumped 22 percent in 2014 compared to the previous year, according to the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA).

And in the first three months of 2015, civilian casualties from ground fighting were up eight per cent on the same period last year, a new UNAMA report said.

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The Taliban has launched its spring offensive in a bid to recapture the Afghan capital Kabul, pictured