KABUL: Five women and a child were killed when a bus carrying Afghan government employees was hit by a bomb in the capital, officials said Tuesday. The blast ripped through the vehicle during evening rush hour in Kabul on Monday, with government ministries giving conflicting casualty figures.

"Unfortunately, five women were killed and 17 wounded in yesterday's attack," Nasratullah Naseri, a spokesman for the telecoms ministry, told AFP, adding that the blast was possibly caused by a "sticky bomb" attached to the side of the bus where women were sat. The education ministry said three women and a child were killed, while police said five people died. Civil servants who are mothers often travel to work with their young children, dropping them off at government-run creches.