Explosion in Kabul kills at least 18, injures dozens

At least 18 people were killed in a suicide attack Saturday in Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan.

According to The Associated Press, the country’s interior ministry said another 57 people were wounded in the explosion outside an education center in a Shiite neighborhood.

Interior ministry spokesman Tariq Arian said on Twitter that the bomber was stopped by guards before entering the center and detonated the bomb. 

The death toll may rise as officials sift through the rubble and neighborhood hospitals where wounded victims are being treated.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack, and the Taliban, which is currently in peace talks with the U.S. and the Afghan government, denied it was involved in the bombing. 

The explosion comes amid an uptick in activity from an Afghan ISIS affiliate, which claimed responsibility for a similar attack on an education center in 2018. The group has ramped up bombings targeting Shiites and other religious minorities in the country.

The U.S. is in the process of drawing down troops in Afghanistan after agreeing to a peace deal with the Taliban in February. However, there has been a rise in attacks by the Taliban on Afghan targets, which the U.S. has condemned.

Separately, Afghan forces announced that they killed al Qaeda’s No. 2 official for the Indian subcontinent.