KABUL — Four people were killed when a suicide bomb hit central Kabul, swiftly followed by a second explosion that tore through a crowd of journalists at the scene Monday, police said.
The second explosion came minutes after the first and targeted reporters who were on the scene, police spokesman Kabul Hashmat Stanikzai told AFP.
"The second explosion took place in the same area. We do not know the nature of the blast, but it is the same location," interior ministry spokesman Najib Danish told AFP.
The first blast was detonated by an assailant on a motorcycle and left at least four dead and five injured, according to the interior ministry.
The initial attack occurred shortly before 8:00am (0330 GMT) near the headquarters of the Afghan intelligence services Danish said.
No group has claimed responsibility.
It comes days after the Taliban kicked off their spring offensive in an apparent rejection of calls for the militants to take up the Afghan government’s offer of peace talks.
During the announcement, the group vowed to target US forces and "their intelligence agents" as well as their "internal supporters".
At least 14 people were killed, an AFP reporter at the morgue said.
Agence France-Presse chief photographer Shah Marai was among the dead in the second explosion, which targeted journalists who had come to cover the
initial suicide blast. — AFP