At least two people have been killed and others injured in a bombing near the entrance to Russia’s embassy in the Afghan capital Kabul, officials say.
The dead are Russian embassy staff, the foreign ministry in Moscow said, adding there were also Afghan casualties.
Earlier, state-owned news agency RIA reported that a diplomat and an embassy security guard had been wounded in an apparent suicide bombing.
No group has yet said it carried out the attack.
Police in Kabul said the would-be suicide bomber targeted the embassy but was shot dead as he approached, resulting in his explosives detonating.
However, Russia’s foreign ministry said the attacker had set the explosives off.
Russia is one of the few countries to maintain a diplomatic presence in Afghanistan after the Taliban seized control of the country in August last year.
Russia does not officially recognise the Taliban’s government. However the two sides have held discussions over agreements pertaining to the Afghan purchase of commodities like wheat, gas and oil from Moscow. (BBC)