Suicide bomber kills three outside Kabul Cricket Stadium during domestic T20 match

Kabul: A suicide bomber killed three people including a policeman and wounded five others after blowing himself up near a cricket stadium in the Afghan capital Kabul on Wednesday, police said. The attacker detonated the bomb after he was stopped at a security checkpoint as he walked towards the stadium where a match was under way.

"The security forces by sacrificing themselves have prevented the attacker from reaching the crowd (inside the stadium) and creating a catastrophe," police spokesman Basir Mujahid told AFP.

Two of the wounded were police officers. Several ambulances were seen speeding away from the scene, apparently taking the injured to hospital.

The blast happened during a cricket match inside the stadium, said Farid Hotak, a spokesman for the Afghanistan Cricket Board.

The game was briefly interrupted, Hotak said, adding "all players and cricket board officials are safe".