Six killed in Kabul bomb attack

A powerful bomb blast rocked Afghanistan capital Kabul Saturday, leaving six people dead and injuring 22 others, interior ministry spokesperson Sediq Sediqi said.

"The coward blast claimed six lives including two security personnel and injured 22 others," Xinhua quoted Sediqi as saying hours after the suicide car bombing.

Shortly before the deadly blast, President Hamid Karzai called on the Taliban and other insurgent groups to attend the upcoming Loya Jirga and present their opinion with regard to the controversial Bilateral Security Agreement (BSA) with the US.

"We have invited them to attend the Loya Jirga which is very important for Afghanistan," Karzai told a press conference inside his fortified presidential palace Saturday morning. "They should attend the consultative Jirga and present their opinion no matter if they are in favour of it."

The blast took place near the venue of the Loya Jirga due to be held next Thursday amid tight security.

Taliban militants fighting the government and NATO-led troops have denounced the consultative Loya Jirga as a trick to pave the way for permanent presence of the US military in the country and asked Afghans to boycott the traditional grand assembly.

Another armed outfit, the Islamic party of Hizb-e-Islami led by Gulbudin Hekmatyar, has rejected participation in the Loya Jirga, noting it would not tolerate foreign forces presence in Afghanistan.