At least five people were killed and several injured in an explosion near the Afghan Foreign Ministry in Kabul on Wednesday, police confirmed.
"An explosion took place today on the road to the ministry of foreign affairs as a result of which five civilians were martyred and several more were injured," said Kabul police spokesman Khalid Zadran.
Earlier, conflicting reports suggested different figures: according to a Sputnik source, a total of 21 people, including 3 members of the Taliban*, were killed as a result of the explosion.
In turn, a Qatar-based media outlet quoting unnamed sources as saying, seven people were killed and ten more injured in an explosion near the building of the Afghan Foreign Ministry in Kabul on Tuesday. A Western news outlet, for its part, claimed that more than twenty people were killed or wounded as a result of the blast.
Taliban spokesman Ahmadullah Muttaki, for his part, told reporters that a suicide bomber had tried to enter the Afghan Foreign Ministry building, but was then stopped by security, which prompted him to carry out an explosion.
He added that at the moment of the blast, many employees had already left the building, which was also abandoned by foreign citizens.
The developments come after Afghan Interior Ministry spokesman Nafi Takoor said in early January that an explosion had occurred at a military airport in the Afghan capital of Kabul. He added that a number of people were killed or injured in the incident.
"This morning, there was an explosion at the Kabul military airport, due to which a number of our citizens were martyred and injured," Takoor said in a statement.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the blast, but the regional affiliate of Daesh*, known as the Islamic State in Khorasan Province, has increased its attacks since the Taliban** seized power in Afghanistan in August 2021. Targets have included Taliban patrols and members of Afghanistan’s Shia minority.
*Daesh (ISIL/ISIS/Islamic State), a terrorist group banned in Russia and a spate of other countries
**Taliban, a group is under UN sanctions over terrorist activities