Kabul attack targets Turkish embassy vehicle

A suicide bomber driving a car packed with explosives targeted a Turkish Embassy vehicle near the Iranian Embassy in Kabul during the Thursday morning rush hour, Afghan officials said.

One Turkish national and an Afghan passerby were killed in the attack, a police spokesman said. 

"The target was a Turkish Embassy vehicle. One person is wounded and the driver possibly killed," Deputy Interior Minister Mohammad Ayub Salangi told media outside the Iranian Embassy.

The blast took place outside the gate of the embassy, which is adjacent to the Turkish mission in the center of Kabul.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the blast in a text message to media, saying the target was a "convoy of foreigners' vehicles." The group often inflates claims.

It is the first known attack on a Turkish target in the Afghan capital. The last similar suicide car bomb attack in Kabul took place near the airport in January.

It was the second time an embassy vehicle has been targeted by insurgents in the capital in recent months, after a British embassy car was attacked by a suicide bomber in November.

One Turkish official reached by phone confirmed the location of the incident, but said he could not provide further details.

Wire services