Kabul deadly blast sources killed, injured, Taliban claims responsibility

(AhlulBayt News Agency) - At least 20 people have been killed and another 70 were wounded in an attack in the Afghan capital, Kabul, according to Waheed Majrooh, health ministry spokesman.

The Taliban claimed responsibility Saturday's assault, with reports confirming that the explosion was close to an old interior ministry building.

Following the blast, huge plumes of dark smoke rose above the city.

Emergency vehicles could be herd in the city centre, TOLO news reported.

Witnesses near the city centre said they had heard at least three explosions.

The incident comes a week after a Taliban-claimed attack on the Intercontinental Hotel in the city, which left 18 dead, and days after the Daeshof Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS) killed at least three people at the office of Save the Children in Jalalabad.

Al Jazeera's Abdullah Shahood, reporting from Kabul, said the blast took place at lunchtime during a "relatively calm day".

"The city was jolted with a heavy explosion," he said.

A police official told Al Jazeera a suicide bomber carried out the attack near heavily guarded checkpoints.

"On the left side of this checkpoint, there is a school and a high peace council," Shahood said.



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