Suicide blast kills four, wounds dozens in central Kabul

At least four people were killed and dozens wounded in a suicide car bombing in the parking lot of the Afghan justice ministry in central Kabul during Tuesday’s evening rush hour, officials said.

“The suicide attacker detonated his explosives-packed car inside the parking lot of the justice ministry,” Kabul police spokesman Ebadullah Karimi told AFP.

“We can confirm that at least 4 people have been killed and a further 24 have been wounded.”

Deputy Interior Minister Mohammad Ayoub Salangi said four men and one woman had been killed in the attack but it was impossible to say whether one of them was the suicide bomber.

“The body of one of the victims was torn into pieces and we cannot verify if he was the suicide attacker,” Salangi told AFP.

The Afghan health ministry said at least 53 wounded people had been brought to various Kabul hospitals.

“We are getting more every minute,” ministry spokesman Mohammad Ismail Kawoosi told AFP.

No group has so far claimed responsibility for the attack, which comes in the midst of the Taliban’s traditional spring-summer fighting season.

Taliban insurgents have stepped up attacks on government and foreign targets after launching their offensive late last month.

Official efforts to bring the militants, who have waged a 13-year war to topple the US-backed government, to the negotiating table have so far borne little fruit.

The surge in attacks has taken a heavy toll on Afghan civilians, according to the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA).

In the first four months of 2015, civilian casualties from growing attacks jumped 16 percent over the same period last year, a recent UNAMA statement said.