6 killed in Afghan capital bomb attack

KABUL — A suicide bomber killed six civilians in an attack near an Afghan intelligence agency compound in Kabul on Monday in the latest assault claimed by the Islamic State group in the capital.

The attacker struck as workers were arriving at the offices of the National Directorate of Security, a week after militants stormed an NDS training center in Kabul.

Interior ministry spokesman Najib Danish said six civilians in a car were killed when the attacker blew himself up.

“Six people were martyred and three others were wounded,” Danish said.

“They were hit when they were passing the area in their Toyota sedan vehicle. We still do not know the target of the attack but it happened on the main road.”

The Health Ministry confirmed the death toll but said only one person was wounded

A reporter at the blast site said the attack happened outside the main entrance to an NDS compound. Security forces have swarmed into the area, closing off the main road leading to the building.

Ambulances were seen leaving the scene, apparently taking casualties to hospitals in the city.

“Our initial information shows a blast took place near an intelligence headquarters in the Shash Darak neighborhood of Kabul,” deputy Interior Ministry spokesman Nasrat Rahimi said.

The IS claimed the attack in a statement via their Amaq propaganda arm. It was the latest assault claimed by the group in Kabul, which in recent months has become one of the deadliest places in the country for civilians.

Ramped up security

Security in the city has been ramped up since May 31 when a massive truck bomb ripped through the diplomatic quarter, killing some 150 people and wounding around 400 others — mostly civilians.

IS has expanded its presence in Afghanistan since it first appeared in the region in 2015.

It has scaled up its attacks in Kabul, including on security installations and the country’s Shiite minority.

Last week’s attack on the intelligence training center triggered an intense hourslong gunbattle which killed the two militants in an assault that was also claimed by IS.

The resurgent Taliban are also stepping up assaults on security installations.

On Friday, in an attack claimed by the Taliban, a suicide bomber drove an explosives-packed Humvee into a police compound in the southern province of Kandahar, killing at least six officers and destroying a building.