国际英语新闻:Gas cylinder blast injures 3 in Afghan capital

KABUL, Dec. 15 (Xinhua) -- At least three people were wounded Monday after a gas cylinder exploded in Afghanistan's capital of Kabul, police said.

"Based on initial reports by our police, a gas cylinder was detonated accidentally in Mirwais Mina locality in western Kabul at around 2:00 p.m. (local time), injuring three people," a Kabul police spokesman Hashmat Stanikzai told local media.

"The injured were shifted to a hospital and one shop was destroyed as a result of the explosion," Spokesman Stanikzai said, denying any militants' activities.

The incident came as more than 10 suicide bomb attacks rocked the city over the past one month. Majority of the attacks were claimed by the Taliban insurgent group.

The Taliban has intensified attacks with a string of bombings over the past couple of months as NATO and U.S. forces are withdrawing from the country. The war-torn country is due to take over the responsibility for its own security from foreign troops by the end of the year.

Earlier on Monday, a roadside bomb was discovered and defused in eastern Kabul. On Saturday, eight army personnel were killed and 20 people were wounded as a suicide bomber targeted an army bus in western Kabul.

U.S. and NATO-led troops will switch from combat to a support role - the NATO-led Resolute Support mission, which will focus on training, advising and assisting Afghan forces by the end of this month, and nearly 13,000 foreign forces will be involved in the mission, according to NATO officials in Afghanistan.