Afghanistan: Suicide bomber targets Russian Embassy in Kabul

Several people were injured and two diplomatic staff killed in an attack near the Russian Embassy in Kabul on Monday, Russian officials confirmed.

Police in the Afghan capital and Russian officials said a suicide bomber detonated explosives near the entrance of the embassy.

What do we know about the attack?

Police said the attacker was shot dead by armed guards as he approached the gate.

"The suicide attacker before reaching the target, was recognized and shot by Russian embassy [Taliban] guards ... there is no information about casualties yet," local police chief Mawlawi Sabir told Reuters.

Russia's Foreign Ministry tweeted that two embassy workers died in the attack, and an unspecified number of Afghan citizens were injured.

According to the foreign ministry statement, the explosion occurred "in the immediate vicinity of the entrance to the consular section of the Russian Embassy."

Earlier, Russian state news agency RIA Novosti cited an unnamed source as saying two embassy workers, identified as a diplomat and a security guard, were injured in the blast.

A site of attacks in the past

Darulaman, the western Kabul neighborhood that hosts the Russian embassy, has been the site of attacks many times in the past. The Russian embassy in Kabul was also the site of a suicide bombing in 2016.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for today's attack.

The Islamic State jihadist group's local affiliate has stepped up attacks against the Taliban government over the past year. Last week, an explosion at a mosque in the western city of Herat killed at least 18 people.

Russia is one of the few countries to have maintained its embassy in Afghanistan following the Taliban takeover last year, although it does not officially recognize the group as Afghanistan's government.

Moscow criticized the withdrawal of US-led forces from Afghanistan, saying it was done "without any consideration of the consequences."