About 35 people have been killed and around 40 more wounded following a suicide car-bomb attack on Monday, in Kabul, the Afghanistan capital which the Taliban has taken responsibility for.

Officials say the explosion went off in a Shi’ite Hazara community neighbourhood near the home of Deputy Government Chief Executive, Mohammad Mohaqiq, after which emergency vehicles rushed to the scene to tend to the injured.

According to the Taliban, however, the targets were two buses that had been under surveillance.

The government confirmed that a small bus, owned by the Ministry of Mines, was blown up in the blast.

Three other vehicles and 15 shops were damaged as well.

“I was in my shop when suddenly I heard a terrible sound and as a result all of my shop windows were shattered,” an witness said.

The Taliban has launched a wave of attacks around the country in recent days, battling a NATO-led coalition and western-backed government for control of Afghanistan.

There’s fighting in several provinces across the country and a resurgence of violence as the U.S. weighs the possibility of sending more troops to help the Afghan forces.