Bombing close to Russian embassy in Kabul kills 7

REUTERS/Omar SobhaniAfghan security forces inspect the site of a suicide bomb attack in an area near the Russian embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan January 20, 2016.

The bus was taking employees home from the company’s office in central Kabul when the attack took place, at around 5 p.m local time.

However, interior ministry spokesman Sediq Sediqqi was quoted by the Associated Press as saying that the explosion was caused by a vehicle bomb.

No group has claimed responsibility for the blast, but the Taliban will be the main suspects as they have launched numerous attacks in the city.

The loud explosion sent a plume of smoke rising in the sky, with ambulances and firefighters rushing to the scene.

The Taliban in October declared TOLO and 1TV, both privately run news stations as legitimate “military targets”.

The Taliban have been battling the Afghan government and its foreign allies since being ousted from power after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

Representatives from Afghanistan, Pakistan, China and the United States, who met in Kabul this week to lay the ground for a negotiated end to 15 years of war, urged the Taliban to join peace talks.

The attack targeted a bus owned by Afghanistan’s biggest media organization, Moby Group.

The four-country group is set to hold the next round of discussions on February 6 in Islamabad.