A suicide bomber blew himself up near Afghanistan's foreign ministry where a Chinese delegation had been due to meet on Wednesday, causing more than 20 casualties, Taliban officials and witnesses said, France 24 reports.
The Taliban claim to have improved security since storming back to power in 2021 but there have been scores of bomb blasts and attacks, many claimed by the local chapter of the 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 with a backpack and 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.
"I saw the man blowing himself up."
Kabul police spokesman Khalid Zadran confirmed the blast "which unfortunately resulted in casualties".
"Security teams have reached the area," he tweeted.
In the aftermath, bodies lay strewn on the road outside the high-walled compound of the ministry, marked with the Taliban flag, a video verified by AFP showed.
Some injured people writhed on the ground, screaming for help, and a handful of onlookers scrambled to offer assistance.
The ministry itself did not appear to be badly damaged.
"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 told AFP.
At least five Chinese nationals were wounded last month when gunmen stormed a hotel popular with Chinese business people in Kabul.
