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At Least Four Killed In Kabul Suicide Attack, Say Officials

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Afghan police carry away a victim after a blast in a diplomatic zone of Kabul on October 31.
Afghan police carry away a victim after a blast in a diplomatic zone of Kabul on October 31.

Afghan officials say at least four people have been killed in a suicide attack in central Kabul.

The Interior Ministry said that 13 people were also wounded in the October 31 blast in the so-called "Green Zone," where many embassies and the head offices of major international organizations are located.

Ministry spokesman Najib Danish told RFE/RL that all those killed and wounded were civilians.

He said the attack was carried out by a teenager.

Basir Mujahid, a spokesman for the Kabul police, said the suicide bomber was 12 or 13 years old.

The extremist group Islamic State (IS) claimed responsibility for the explosion.

The attack was "a [suicide] mission using an explosive vest in the diplomatic Wazir Akbar Khan neighborhood in the city of Kabul," the group's Amaq news agency said.

The Defense Ministry said the suicide bomber was on a motorcycle. "He made it through the first checkpoint but was stopped at the second checkpoint and detonated," ministry spokesman Dawlat Waziri said.

The attack occurred on Fourth Street in the Wazir Akbar Khan zone, Kabul police deputy chief Haq Nawaz Haqyar told RFE/RL.

The street is close to several foreign embassies, as well as an office and guesthouse of the Defense Ministry. The site of the explosion is some 500 meters from the U.S. Embassy.

The Taliban and Islamic State militants have stepped up their suicide attacks on Afghan security installations and mosques in recent weeks.

Several attacks occurred in or around Kabul this month, including one on a Shi'ite mosque in the city that killed more than 50 people. A separate attack on an army training facility killed at least 15 soldiers.

In a statement on October 31, Amnesty International’s Afghanistan Researcher Horia Mosadiq said that the victims of "this horrific wave of violence" must get justice.

"Those responsible for these crimes must be prosecuted and punished in fair trials to end the culture of impunity for such atrocities," Mosadiq said.

He added that the Afghan authorities have "a responsibility to do whatever they can to protect civilians from attacks," and called on European states to stop forcibly returning Afghans to the country.

"The unrelenting violence in Afghanistan … shows that the country is not safe," Mosadiq said.

With reporting by Reuters, AFP, dpa, and AP

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