A suicide car bomb Saturday ripped through a crowded area outside a government building in Kabul, Afghanistan, killing at least 17 people and wounding more than 100 others.
Thick, dark smoke could be seen rising into the sky from the central part of the capital following the explosion near the old Afghan Interior Ministry building, witnesses said.
An Afghan Interior Ministry spokesman, Nasrat Rahimi, confirmed the casualties to VOA, saying the bomber used an explosives-filled ambulance to carry out the attack in an area where civilians had gathered in large number.
Unconfirmed reports, however, said the death toll is much higher than what Afghan officials reported.
The Taliban instantly took responsibility for plotting the attack. A spokesman for the insurgent group said the target was a crowd of personnel of the Afghan security force.
The deadly bombing came a week after five heavily armed Taliban suicide bombers stormed Kabul's Intercontinental Hotel in a highly secured part of the city. The raid killed at least 22 people, including 14 foreigners. At least four Americans were among the dead.