Deadly ‘suicide’ blast outside Afghan foreign ministry in Kabul - Al Jazeera English

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The Taliban-run accusation ministry authoritative says 20 killed successful blast successful Kabul but nary comments from overseas and interior ministry.

At slightest 20 radical person been killed aft a suspected termination bomber detonated himself extracurricular the overseas ministry successful Kabul successful the 2nd large onslaught successful the Afghan superior this year, according to a Taliban official.

Ustad Fareedun, an authoritative astatine the Taliban-run accusation ministry, told Reuters that the bomber had planned to participate the overseas ministry but failed. He added that astatine slightest 20 radical were killed and galore others injured successful the blast.

Taliban overseas and interior ministry officials person yet to remark connected the deadly explosion.

A photograph of the area, confirmed by authoritative sources, showed astatine slightest 9 radical wounded oregon killed, lying extracurricular the ministry arsenic information forces attended to them.

Earlier, Kabul constabulary main spokesperson Khalid Zadran said information teams person been deployed to the site. He said casualties were feared but added that details would beryllium shared later.

The blast deed astir 4pm section clip (11:30 GMT) connected Wednesday, Zadran said.

The blast reportedly happened erstwhile a Chinese delegation was gathering the Taliban astatine the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

“There was expected to beryllium a Chinese delegation astatine the overseas ministry today, but we don’t cognize if they were contiguous astatine the clip of the blast,” lawman curate of accusation and civilization Muhajer Farahi told AFP.

A operator with the AFP squad waiting extracurricular the accusation ministry adjacent doorway saw a antheral with a backpack and firearm slung implicit his enarthrosis locomotion past earlier the antheral blew himself up.

“He passed by my car and aft a fewer seconds determination was a large blast,” Jamshed Karimi said.

“I saw the antheral blowing himself up.”

The breached windowpanes of a gathering are pictured aft the blast adjacent the overseas ministry successful Kabul [Wakil Kohsar/AFP]

Some injured radical writhed connected the ground, screaming for help, and a fistful of onlookers scrambled to connection assistance.

The overseas ministry itself did not look to beryllium severely damaged.

Security situation

The Taliban claims to person improved information since storming backmost to powerfulness successful 2021 but determination person been dozens of weaponry blasts and attacks, galore claimed by the section section of the ISIL (ISIS) group.

At slightest 5 Chinese nationals were wounded past period erstwhile equipped men stormed a edifice fashionable with Chinese concern radical successful Kabul.

That raid was claimed by ISIL, who besides took work for an onslaught connected Pakistan’s embassy successful Kabul successful December that Islamabad denounced arsenic an “assassination attempt” against their ambassador.

Four radical were killed and 25 wounded successful an onslaught connected a mosque connected the grounds of the interior ministry successful Kabul past October.

And 2 Russian embassy unit members were killed successful a termination bombing extracurricular their ngo successful September successful different onslaught claimed by the ISIL-affiliate ISKP (ISIS-K).

Hundreds of people, including members of Afghanistan’s number communities, person been killed and wounded successful different attacks since the Taliban regained power.

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Al Jazeera and quality agencies