At least seven killed in Kabul car bomb blast after Australian, American hostage swap deal with Taliban

The bomb went off in a neighbourhood near the interior ministry and was meant to target government vehicles

It came one day after the president announced that Kabul would release three high-ranking Taliban prisoners in a swap with Australian and American hostages

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Security personnel and investigators gather at the site of a suicide attack in Kabul on November 13. Photo: AFP

Published: 3:40pm, 13 Nov 2019Updated: 10:32pm, 13 Nov 2019

At least seven people were killed and seven wounded when a car bomb detonated during Kabul’s busy morning rush hour Wednesday, an interior ministry spokesman said.

Spokesman Nasrat Rahimi said the bomb had gone off in a neighbourhood which is near the interior ministry and north of Kabul airport.

He said the dead were all civilians. “This is the initial information, more details later,” he added.

A source at the interior ministry said the blast was detonated by a suicide bomber in the car, and that it had targeted a convoy of government vehicles on a main road.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility. Both the Taliban and Islamic State are active in Kabul, which is one of the deadliest places in the war-torn country for civilians.

The blast came one day after Afghan President Ashraf Ghani announced that Kabul would release three high-ranking Taliban prisoners in an apparent prisoner swap with Western hostages who were kidnapped by the insurgents in 2016.