A suicide bomber blew up a car packed with rockets outside police headquarters in the Afghan capital on Saturday killing several people, officials said.
The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack.
”Explosives were inside a vehicle that exploded and killed several civilians and wounded some policemen,” said Interior Ministry spokesperson Zemari Bashary.
The car was packed with BM12 rockets pointing towards the police chief’s office, said a police official who declined to be identified. About five of the rockets failed to explode, he said.
A Taliban spokesperson, Zabiullah Mujahid, claimed responsibility.
The Taliban rely heavily on suicide and roadside bombs in their insurgency against the Kabul government and foreign troops.
In early December, Taliban suicide bombers attacked twice around the time of a visit by United States Defence Secretary Robert Gates.
A bomber slammed his car into a bus filled with Afghan soldiers in Kabul on December 5, killing 13 people. On December 4, a Nato convoy was hit by a similar attack close to the capital’s international airport. There were no Nato casualties, but 22 Afghans were wounded.
The worst suicide attack in Kabul hit an army bus in September and killed 28 army personnel.
More than 10 000 people have been killed in the past two years, the bloodiest period since the Taliban’s overthrow in 2001. An increasing number of Afghans are frustrated with the lack of progress toward peace. – Reuters