Car bomb explosion hits Afghanistan’s capital Kabul

A huge explosion has struck Kabul just hours after Taliban-claimed twin bombings left two dozen people dead in the Afghan capital.

According to the Interior Ministry on Monday, the blast was the result of a car bomb, with its actual target still unclear. Following the explosion, the armed assailants forcefully entered the offices of an international aid group.

Sporadic shootings lasted for about an hour.

Sediq Sediqqi, the spokesman for the Interior Ministry, said more than 30 people had been evacuated from offices and homes in Share Naw, a business and residential area in central Kabul. He added that all the attackers had been killed by security forces.

Earlier, at least 24 people were killed and 91 injured as two explosions, claimed by the Taliban terrorist group, ripped through Kabul.

“Two suicide bombers, both on foot, detonated their explosives… in downtown Kabul,” Sediqqi said. “The attackers blew themselves up one after another and unfortunately we do have police and civilian casualties.”

Afghanistan has been gripped by insecurity since the US and its allies invaded the country as part of Washington’s so-called war on terror in 2001. Many parts of the country still remain plagued by militancy despite the presence of foreign troops.

Taliban have regrouped since the death of former leader Mullah Akhtar Mansour earlier in the year and are reported to be currently in control of some areas in Afghanistan.

Fierce fighting is currently ongoing between the Afghan army and the militants across the country, notably in Helmand and around the northern city of Kunduz, which they had briefly seized last year.