40 killed in suicide car bombing in Kabul, Taliban claims responsibility

Kabul: At least 40 people were killed and more than 140 wounded in a suicide car bombing in the capital Kabul claimed by the Taliban, the Afghan Public Health Ministry told the news agency Associated Press (AP).

Nasrat Rahimi, deputy spokesperson for the Interior Ministry, said, "The attacker used an ambulance to get through one security checkpoint by telling police he was taking a patient to a nearby hospital. He detonated his explosives at a second check point, Rahimi said.

Zabihullah Mujahid, a Taliban spokesman, claimed responsibility for the attack, which sent thick, dark smoke into the sky from from the site of the explosion near the government's former Interior Ministry building.

The explosion comes exactly a week after Taliban militants stormed a luxury hotel in Kabul, killing at least 22 people, the majority foreigners.

A security alert issued to foreigners on Saturday morning warned that the Islamic State group, which has terrorised the city in recent months, was planning "to conduct aggressive attacks" on supermarkets, shops and hotels frequented by foreigners.