Kabul, Jun 6 (IANS): The Afghan National Police (ANP) on Sunday announced the arrest of 27 suspected criminals in Kabul in the past 48 days.

The arrested persons were involved in murder cases, armed robberies, possession of illegal weapons, sale of narcotics, car theft and other crimes in the city, Xinhua news agency quoted the ANP as saying in a statement.

According to the statement, the ANP confiscated seven hand guns, and the operations were part of the preventive measures to ensure a high level of security and safety in Kabul.

Last week, Kabul witnessed a series of blasts targeting passenger buses that have led to increasing concerns and panic among the local residents of the Afghan capital city.

On June 3, four civilians, including a female journalist and her mother, were killed and five others wounded when a mini-bus was struck by a sticky improvised bomb in Pul-i-Sokhta of Police District 6.

The blast came hours after a bomb hit a mini-bus in the same district, killing four people and injuring four others.

One June 1, eight civilians were killed and 14 others wounded in twin blasts hitting two public buses in a short span of time in the same neighbourhood.

Afghan civilians continue to bear the brunt of armed conflicts as more than 2,950 civilians were killed and over 5,540 others wounded due to fighting in the country last year, according to the country's independent human rights commission.

The agency has attributed 53 per cent of civilian casualties to the Taliban and 15 per cent to pro-government security forces over the period, while 25 per cent were caused by unknown perpetrators and the rest 7 per cent were blamed on other reasons.

Out of total casualties, 330 women and 565 children were killed in separate attacks last year, according to figures of the independent human rights commission.