11 killed, 24 injured in aid agency attack in Afghan capital

KABUL- Eleven people, including six assailants, were killed and 24 civilians wounded after Taliban suicide bombers attacked a US-funded aid agency in Afghanistan's capital of Kabul on Wednesday.

Those among the killed were four civilians, the Ministry of Interior Affairs said in a statement.

The attack started at midday when a Taliban suicide bomber rammed a car bomb into the gate of Counter Part International in Shahr-e-Naw, a business district in central Kabul. Five gunmen were killed inside the agency's premise during a counter-attack conducted by Afghan elite police forces.

"We heard a huge blast in Shahr-e-Naw locality roughly at 11:40 am local time. The whole place has now been sealed off by CRU or elite police forces," eye-witness Aman Karimi told Xinhua earlier.

The blast caused a plume of grey smoke to rise above the scene, he said.

The security forces evacuated safely about 200 people from the targeted building and nearby offices, the statement said.

The blast caused massive destruction.

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, UN mission in the country and ordinary Afghans strongly condemned the attack which occurred in the third day of Muslim's fasting month of Ramadan.

The Taliban militants have claimed the attack shortly after the deadly explosion.