Afghan minister: Suicide car bomb explodes in Kabul killing 4, wounding 85

Security officials in Afghanistan say at least 10 people have been killed and more than 120 others sustained injuries when a massive explosion rocked the country’s capital city of Kabul.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the explosion, which shook the centre of the capital and ripped through homes and shops.

Police chief Abdul Rahman Rahimi said the pre-dawn blast was near a Defence Ministry compound, but that all of the victims were civilians, including women and children.

Cars parked on roads in the vicinity of the blast were damaged for at least a hundred metres, a Reuters witness said.

The health ministry said the 112 wounded have been taken to hospital.

Police expect the number of dead to rise, as buildings had collapsed and bodies were feared buried in the wreckage.

An Afghan security guard inspects the site of a truck bombing attack in Logar province, east of Kabul, Afghanistan, Thursday, August 6, 2015.

Afghan authorities say he died in a Pakistani hospital more than two years ago.

Around 4,000 army and police are lost each month to casualties and desertions, the U.S. general in command said this week.

Clashes are reported every day and civilians are frequently caught in crossfire.

Taliban insurgents killed nine people in multiple attacks on police targets in southern and eastern Afghanistan on Thursday, in their first major assaults since last week’s announcement of leader Mullah Omar’s death. Pictured: A suicide bomber targeted North Atlantic Treaty Organisation forces in Kabul on July 7.