20 killed in blast near Foreign Ministry office in Kabul, Afghanistan

New Delhi: A blast took place near the gate of the building of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Kabul, Afghanistan, today evening. Social media reports say the explosion happened when the Chinese delegation was meeting with the Taliban at the foreign ministry.

AFP news agency is saying that around 20 people are killed allegedly in a suicidal militant attack.

A Suicider bomber detonated a device near Afghanistan's foreign ministry in the capital Kabul on Wednesday, causing more than 20 casualties, an AFP staff member said.

“I don’t know how many of them are dead or injured, “AFP driver Jamshed  Karimi said, adding, “I saw the man blow himself up.”

Also read: Afghanistan: Blast near Foreign Ministry office in Kabul

The blast followed firing and the areas were cordoned off as more troops reached the area. Several nearby building window panes were broken and a few passing-by vehicles were damaged.

A spokesman for the Kabul security department, Khalid Zadran, in a tweet said the blast caused casualties. He said the explosion happened on the street of the Foreign Ministry.

Zadran added that security forces have arrived at the scene.

Photos from the blast scene on social media show bodies of victims on the street.

No group has claimed responsibility for the Kabul blast.

On January 1, a bomb blast near a checkpoint in Kabul's military airport killed at least 10 people and injured 8 others, Taliban officials said.