A huge blast has hit the Afghan capital during the morning rush hour. The blast was reported near the city’s presidential palace and foreign embassies.
Witnesses have reported an enormous plume of smoke rising up from Kabul's diplomatic quarter, home to the city's foreign embassies and the presidential palace.
News agency Reuters cited Afghan police as saying the explosion was caused by a car bomb placed near the German embassy. Initial reports from the Afghan interior ministry estimate that at least 50 people have been killed or wounded.
Kabul police spokesman Basir Mujahid said: "It was a car bomb near the German embassy, but there are several other important compounds and offices near there too. It is hard to say what the exact target is."
Kabul has in recent months sustained a series of terror attacks carried out by a resurgent Taliban, as well as the so-called "Islamic State" jihadi group. However, Wednesday’s blast is reported to have been particularly devastating, striking buildings and cars within a one-kilometer radius.
No group had yet claimed responsibility for the attack, nor was it immediately clear what the precise target was, if there even was one.
The US and British embassies are also located close to the blast area, as are the headquarters for NATO's mission in Afghanistan.
A number of news outlets around the area reported that the explosion had smashed windows and blown doors off their hinges at their Kabul offices.
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