At least 8 killed in Afghan capital deadly blast

KABUL - Eight civilians were killed and 27 others injured after a suicide bomber struck a foreign forces' military convoy in a diplomatic district in central Kabul on Wednesday, sources said.

"The blast occurred at Makroryan-i-Duam near a road which turns to Shashdarak locality at 08:00 am local time and the nature of the blast likely was a suicide car bombing," a security source told Xinhua anonymously.

Among the injured people were three NATO-led Resolute Support service members who suffered non-life threatening wounds, the coalition forces confirmed on its twitter.

"Most of the people affected by the incident were passengers of vehicles running in the two-line road surrounding by apartment buildings and several residents and passersby were also victimized," he said.

Three cars, including one armored military vehicle, were destroyed and several car and buildings around the site were damaged by the blast in the area where the US embassy and Supreme Court office are located.

The government Media and Information Center confirmed that eight civilians were killed and 24 others were wounded.

The injured were shifted to the nearby Afghan military hospital where some of the injured remained in critical condition.

So far, no one has claimed responsibility for the attack.

The attack came days after the Taliban militant group started their yearly rebel offensive across the country.

They urged civilians to stay away from official gatherings, military convoys and centers regarded as the legitimate targets by militants besides warning people not to support the government.

Further details about the incident are still forthcoming amid the absence of any official statement.

The Afghan civilians continue to bear the brunt of armed conflicts as 715 civilians were killed and over 1,460 others injured in conflict-related incidents across Afghanistan in the first three months of the year, according to figures released by the UN mission in the country.

The mission has attributed 62 percent of the civilian casualties over the period to the Taliban and other insurgent groups, 21 percent to security forces while the rest 17 percent were unattributed to or caused by explosive remnants of war.