Explosion Rocks Central Kabul; Taliban Claims ‘suicide attacks’

WASHINGTON — (CNN) A car bomb exploded near the Spanish Embassy in Afghanistan’s capital early Friday evening, a source briefed on the incident said on condition of anonymity, and sporadic gunfire rang out in the area afterward — assaults for which the Taliban appeared to claim responsibility.

Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy called the assaults in Kabul’s Sherpoor district a terrorist attack, telling reporters that it appeared to have targeted guesthouses near the Embassy.

Although the Afghan government hasn’t confirmed any casualties, information from the Spanish government and an aid group suggested at least eight people were injured.

Video distributed by Reuters showed many security personnel in the area after darkness fell.

“Police at scene are not giving a lot of details,” said journalist Sune Rasmussen.

The Taliban — the Islamist militant group that controlled much of the country before a 2001 U.S.-led invasion — claimed responsibility for “suicide attacks … on a guesthouse of invaders in the Sherpoor area of Kabul in the evening.”

Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said that clashes had taken place, and that there were heavy casualties.

The Afghan government acknowledged the explosion and said security personnel were responding to it, but it didn’t immediately release many other details. An initial report indicated that a car exploded in the area, Afghan Interior Ministry spokesman Sediq Sediqqi said on Twitter without elaborating.

Gunshots could be heard after the blast, Rasmussen said.

“(There was a) big explosion … followed by erratic gunfire,” he said.

The Sherpoor district hosts not only embassies, but also the homes of many expatriates.

Rajoy, speaking in the Spanish port city of Alicante, told reporters that a Spanish police officer was injured.

Emergency, an Italian aid group that runs a hospital about 700 meters from the Spanish Embassy, said it received seven Afghan patients after the assault.

The anonymous source said most of the Spanish Embassy’s staff were in a safe place, though officials still were trying to account for the whereabouts of all personnel.

(Photo: CNN)