The death toll from Monday morning’s car bombing in the west of Kabul could rise further, according to the Interior Ministry.
At least 24 people were dead and more than 40 were injured in the blast in the Afghan capital, officials said.
Acting ministry spokesman Najib Danish said the target of the attack remained unclear, and that all the dead and wounded were civilians. He added that three vehicles and 15 shops were destroyed in the blast.
In a statement, the Interior Ministry called the blast a “criminal attack against humanity.”
The suicide bomber appeared to target a minibus, according to eyewitnesses.
The blast occurred near the residence of Mohammad Mohaqiq, the deputy Afghan Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah. The area is one where many of the mainly Shiite Hazara community live.
Taliban militants have claimed responsibility for the bombing, with spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid saying the attack targeted two buses belonging to the Afghan National Directorate of Security (NDS), the country’s spy agency.
The incident comes as the Taliban have stepped up attacks across the country in recent days. A number of districts fell to the militants over the weekend.
Attacks in Kabul have caused at least 20 percent of all civilian casualties in Afghanistan this year. The worst attack so far killed at least 150 people at the end of May.
At least 1,662 civilians have been killed in the country so far this year, the UN says.
