Blast in Kabul near Pak embassy, at least two dead

A large blast rocks an upmarket suburb in Kabul near the Pakistan embassy early on Tuesday.

A suicide car bomb struck an upmarket suburb in the Afghan capital near the Pakistan embassy early Tuesday, killing at least two people, police said.

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The explosion took place in the Wazir Akbar Khan suburb close to the city centre that is home to diplomatic missions, politicians and several of the international aid agencies operating in Afghanistan.

"There was a suicide car bomb in Wazir Akbar Khan near a foreign bank. Initial reports indicate that two civilians have been killed," interior ministry spokesman Zemarai Bashary told AFP.

The ministry said the attack was a suicide bomb that was apparently targeted at international soldiers in the area.

The blast comes a day after a bomb planted on a dust road used by Italian military forces on the outskirts of the capital tore apart a car, killing four Afghan men, security officials said.

Police said it was not clear if Monday's blast was motivated by personal enmity or was the work of "enemies of Afghanistan," a term that refers to insurgents from the Taliban movement and other rebel outfits.

One Italian soldier and eight Afghans, three of them children, were killed. The Taliban claimed responsibility.

Attacks and kidnappings linked to an insurgency led by the extremist Taliban movement, which was in government between 1996 and 2001, have increased in and around the city in recent months.