KABUL: At least five people were killed and several wounded by a suicide bomber near the Afghan foreign ministry in Kabul, where a Chinese delegation was due to meet on Wednesday, officials and witnesses said.

The Taliban claim to have improved security since storming back to power in 2021 but there have been a number of attacks including Wednesday’s, which were claimed by the militant Islamic State (IS) group.

An AFP team was conducting an interview inside the information ministry next door when Wednesday’s blast took place. A company driver waiting outside saw a man holding a bag and with a rifle slung over his shoulder walk past before the man blew himself up.

“He passed by my car and after a few seconds there was a loud blast,” Jamshed Karimi said, adding he saw 20 to 25 casualties. “I saw the man blowing himself up.”

Kabul police spokesman Khalid Zadran said five civilians were killed and several more wounded by the blast. Bodies lay strewn on the road in the aftermath outside the high-walled compound of the ministry, marked with the Taliban flag.

The ministry itself did not appear to be badly damaged. Window panes in the ministry building were shattered by the impact of the blast.

“There was supposed to be a Chinese delegation at the Foreign Ministry today, but we don’t know if they were present at the time of the blast,” deputy minister of information and culture Muhajer Farahi said.

However, Ahmadullah Muttaqi, a senior official at the prime minister’s office, said no foreigners were present at the ministry when it was attacked.

IS has claimed a string of attacks in recent months at a time when the Taliban is trying to attract investment from neighbouring countries.

At least five Chinese nationals were wounded last month when gunmen stormed a hotel popular with Chinese business people in Kabul. That raid was claimed by IS, who also took responsibility for an attack on Pakistan’s embassy in Kabul in December that Islamabad denounced as an “assassination attempt” against their ambassador.

Published in Dawn, January 12th, 2023