At least eight people have been killed and more than 100 injured by a powerful auto bomb in the Afghan capital Kabul early on Friday morning, health officials have told the BBC.
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Kabul police chief General Abdul Rahman Rahimi gave a higher death toll of eight, adding that 128 others were wounded and officials were looking to recover anyone trapped under debris of damaged concrete structures.
Women and children were among the casualties of the powerful blast which struck an east Kabul neighbourhood but rattled homes across the city, damaging buildings and shattering windows.
No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, which came amid the Taliban’s annual summer offensive.
“The wounded included children are trickling into city hospitals… the casualty toll is expected to rise”, said health ministry spokesman Wahidullah Mayar.
The blast occured near the entrance of the Afghan National Army Intelligence Base, local residents said.
An official at the Emergency Hospital in Kabul said the facility had been flooded with nearly a hundred patients, including many women and children. He said doctors had already started operating on the more severe cases.
Dozens of clashes are reported every day and civilians are frequently caught in the crossfire.
An Afghan military helicopter crashed in a remote region of the southern Zabul province on Thursday, killing 17 people on board – 12 soldiers and five crew members, officials said.
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Nearly 5,000 civilians have been wounded or killed in the first six months of 2015 as a result of the conflict, according to the United Nations.
