Two Taliban suicide attacks hit Kabul today, one targeting a play at a French-financed school, killing at least seven people just as NATO forces are due to pull out of Afghanistan.
The Afghan capital has been hit by a series of deadly Taliban attacks in recent weeks, highlighting the fragility of the security situation as foreign combat troops leave after more than a decade of war.
The bombers targeted a bus carrying Afghan troops in the city's suburbs in the morning, and late in the afternoon a theatre performance at the Istiqlal High School, which is attached to Kabul's long-established French cultural centre.
"A suicide bomber blew himself up among the audience in Istiqlal High School," Afghan interior ministry spokesman Sediqi Sediqqi told AFP.
At least seven people were wounded in the attack, senior Kabul police official General Farid Afzail told AFP, adding that the perpetrator is thought to have been a teenager.
Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid claimed both bombings in separate email statements sent to media.
He said the theatre show was "desecrating Islamic values" and "propaganda against jihad", particularly suicide attacks.
Afzali and the interior ministry said one foreign national was killed, without giving further details.
But French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said the "barbaric" attack had left several people dead.
"I firmly condemn this terrorist act which caused the death of several people and left many injured. There were no French victims," Fabius said in a statement.
Witnesses described scenes of panic after the blast, with audience members screaming for help in the theatre hall, filled with smoke.
The cultural centre is located in the centre of Kabul, not far from the presidential palace and shares its grounds with the Istiqlal school, a French-financed institution that has taught generations of Afghan children.
Originally opened in 1970, the cultural centre was forced to close between 1983 and 2002 as Afghanistan was torn apart by a series of wars.
It reopened in 2003 and was revamped in 2010.
French President Francois Hollande condemned the bombing as "heinous" and said it was an assault on "culture and creativity."
In the earlier attack, the bomber who was on foot targeted a bus carrying Afghan troops in Tangi Tarakhil on the outskirts of the capital, Afzail told AFP.
"As a result of the (first) attack, six Afghan army staff were martyred and 10 others were wounded," Afzail said.
A statement from the defence ministry confirmed the death toll, but said 11 people were wounded.
