New Delhi: A suicide bomber detonated himself on Wednesday evening, on a street outside Afghanistan’s Ministry of Foreign affairs in Kabul, causing an estimated 20 casualties.
However, an official number is yet to be released.
Kabul police spokesman Khalid Zadran confirmed the explosion and tweeted, “Security teams have reached the area”. He added that details of the incident were to follow.
متاسفانه حوالی ساعت چهار عصر یک انفجار در سرک وزارت امور خارجه رخ داد که تلفات جانی در پی داشت.
تیم های بررسی ما به منطقه رسیده اند و جزیات این حادثه بعدأ نشر خواهد شد— Khalid Zadran (@khalidzadran01) January 11, 2023
The explosion took place on a street housing several embassies including those of Turkey and China. It was right around the time when Wang Yu, China’s ambassador to Kabul along with his visiting delegation, was meeting with Taliban officials at the ministry.
A team from news agency Agence France-Presse (AFP) was conducting an interview inside the information ministry near the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the capital, at the time of the blast.
A driver with the AFP team waiting near the ministry, eyewitnessed the blast and said that a man with a backpack and rifle slung over his shoulder walked past his car before the bomber blew himself up.
In the aftermath, images from the scene show injured people lying on the ground outside the central Kabul building, screaming for help, and onlookers rushing to offer assistance. But from the images it was concluded that the ministry was not damaged.
The Taliban-run government is facing a revolt by Islamic State (IS) militants who have targeted foreigners. Earlier last month, at least five Chinese nationals were injured when gunmen stormed a hotel popular with Chinese businessmen in Kabul.
In another suicide bombing, a mosque in the grounds of the interior ministry in Kabul was attacked in October last year where four people were killed and 25 were wounded.
Also read: Heroin and human trafficking are the only two sectors of Afghanistan economy still thriving