Nearly 100 injured after Taliban bombing in Kabul

A car bomb exploded on Wednesday outside a police station in the Afghan capital, Kabul, wounding at least 95 people, government officials said. The Taliban claimed responsibility for what it said was a suicide attack.

There has been no let-up in violence in Afghanistan, despite the Taliban and the US appearing to be close to reaching a historic pact for American troops to withdraw, in exchange for a Taliban pledge the country would not be used as a base from which to plot terrorist attacks.

The blast, in the west of the city during the morning rush hour, sent clouds of grey smoke billowing into the sky.

The Taliban said a “recruitment centre” had been attacked by one of their suicide bombers.

“A large number of soldiers and police were killed or wounded,” the Taliban said in a statement.

The bomb went off when a vehicle was stopped at a checkpoint outside the police station, said the interior ministry spokesman, Nasrat Rahimi.

A health ministry spokesman said 95 wounded people had been taken to hospitals. Most were civilians, including women and children, he said.

Separately, security forces conducted raids in several parts of Kabul overnight and destroyed a major militant hideout, the main security service said.