At least 20 people have been killed in a suicide bomb attack outside the Afghan Foreign Ministry in Kabul, a Taliban official says, while more than 40 wounded have been sent to a nearby hospital.
Ustad Fareedun, an official at the Taliban-run information ministry, said the bomber had planned to enter the Foreign Ministry, but failed.
Emergency Hospital, a surgical centre run by an Italian NGO for those wounded by war, said it had received more than 40 patients following the explosion.
Stefano Sozza, the organisation's director in Afghanistan, said casualty numbers were continuing to rise as the situation unfolded.
“The death toll is still rising," he said.
"This is the first mass casualty [event] in 2023, but certainly one of those with the most patients since the beginning of 2022. So much so, that we have also set up beds in the kitchens and canteen."
The United Nations and several countries, including Pakistan and the United Kingdom, have condemned the attack.
"The UK rejects such senseless and indiscriminate acts of violence," said Hugo Shorter, the charge d'affaires for the UK mission to Afghanistan.
A photo of the area, confirmed by official sources, showed at least nine dead or wounded lying outside the ministry.
The blast hit at about 4pm (local time), Kabul police spokesperson Khalid Zadran said.
Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack, the militant group's Amaq news agency said on Telegram.
The Taliban-run administration has faced an insurgency by Islamic State militants, who have targeted foreigners, including the Russian and Pakistani embassies, and a hotel catering to Chinese businessmen.
The blast took place during a busy time of day in a heavily fortified area surrounded by checkpoints, on a street housing several ministries. Some countries, including Turkey and China, have embassies in the area.
No country has formally recognised the administration of the Taliban, which took over Afghanistan in August 2021 with a speed and ease that took the world by surprise, following which President Ashraf Ghani fled the country and his government collapsed.
ABC/wires
