KABUL, Afghanistan -- A suicide bomber posing as an army volunteer struck an Afghan army recruitment center in the northern Kunduz province on Monday afternoon, killing at least 33 people, Afghan officials said.
The attacker approached on foot and detonated his explosives vest among a group of army volunteers lined up outside the recruitment center, Kunduz Deputy Governor Hamdullah Danishi said.
Ambulances and private cars brought at least 42 wounded to the Kunduz Hospital, said provincial government spokesman Muhbobullah Sayedi.
"We have 33 bodies, including soldiers and civilians," said Humayun Khamush, a doctor at the hospital. Four children were also killed, he said.
The bomber pretended to be an army volunteer, lining up with other recruits outside the center before detonating his explosives as he approached recruitment officers, said Lal Mohammad Ahmadzai, a regional Afghan police spokesman.
It was the second attack on the center. In mid-December, four suicide bombers stormed the recruiting compound and killed eight soldiers and policemen in a daylong fight. The Taliban claimed responsibility for that attack.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for Monday's attack.
Kunduz city is a major agricultural and marketing center that controls one of the main highways into neighboring Tajikistan. The city was the last major urban center held by the Taliban in 2001, and militants began stepping up attacks there after NATO began using supply routes through former Soviet states bordering northern Afghanistan as alternatives to routes through Pakistan, where NATO convoys have come under frequent attack.
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