Huge explosion in front of Russian embassy in Kabul

Omar Sobhani/ReutersFirefighters inspecting the wreckage of a bus that officials say was hit by a suicide bomb attack in Kabul, Afghanistan, on Wednesday.

Massoud Hossaini/AP Afghan men carries an injured man to a hospital after a suicide attack near the Russian embassy in Kabul.

The blast killed at least seven people and wounded 24 others.

The edict was in response to their reports claiming that the group’s fighters had raped women at a female hostel in Kunduz, after the group briefly captured the northern city in late September previous year.

“The enemy of peace and Afghan people have martyred my colleagues”, Fawad Aman, a well-known TOLO TV anchor, wrote on his Facebook page.

“So long as insurgents falsely categorize journalists as ‘military targets, ‘ media freedom in Afghanistan is in peril”.

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani immediately condemned the attack in a statement, according to Tolo News.

He accused Tolo TV of being part of the West’s intelligence network.

Early reports of Wednesday’s blast suggested the Russian embassy was struck, but the Russian foreign ministry said damage to the building was minimal.

Tolo is one of the most popular television stations in Afghanistan.

Abdullah Abdullah, the chief executive of Afghanistan’s national unity government, said: “Attacks on innocent civilians have no justifications”.

The carnage highlights the Taliban’s growing campaign of violence across Afghanistan despite an worldwide push to jumpstart peace talks with the Islamist group. “I have also advised security forces to provide security for media outlets and journalists”.

US Vice-President Joe Biden, left, poses with Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif for the media prior to a meeting on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Thursday, Jan. 21, 2016. “We urge Afghanistan’s government – and all governments – to take stronger steps to ensure the safety of journalists and media organisations, and to bring their killers to justice”.

The attacker, riding a motorbike, reportedly targeted a bus carrying employees of a prominent private television channel.