At least 24 killed in Kabul car bombing

At least 24 people have been killed and ten wounded after a car bomb rocked western Kabul on Monday, an official told AFP, the latest attack to strike the Afghan capital. 


"So far eight dead bodies and 10 wounded have been brought to Kabul hospitals," Waheed Mojtoh, a health ministry spokesman, told AFP. 


An official at the interior ministry who asked not to be named said there had been at least 24 casualties but did not give a breakdown of the dead and wounded. 


Interior ministry spokesman Najib Danish said the target of the attack, which came just before 7:00 am (0230 GMT), was not immediately clear. 


The neighborhood is home to many Shiite Hazaras, a persecuted ethnic minority who have been targeted many times in the past. 


It is also near prominent politician and former warlord Mohammad Mohaqeq's home. Omid Maisom Mohaqiq, a spokesman for the politician, said the bomb had detonated near the first checkpoint approaching the house, "killing and wounding some civilians". 


"We assume the car wanted to target Mr Mohaqeq's house but was stopped by guards," he said. 


No militant group immediately claimed the blast. 


Kabul is regularly rocked by suicide bombs and attacks. A recent UN report showed it accounted for nearly one-fifth of all civilian casualties in the first half of 2017

Source: NNA