Afghan officials: Suicide bomber kills at least 19 in Kabul

Afghan security forces inspect the site of two large bombings in Kabul, Afghanistan, Tuesday, Jan. 10, 2017. Two loud explosions have rocked the Afghan capital of Kabul, causing casualties. The target of the blasts was probably an area that includes government and lawmakers' offices. Sediq Sediqqi, spokesman for the Interior Ministry, said that first, a suicide bomber carried out an attack, followed by a second explosion, caused by car bomb parked near the site. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul) (Copyright 2017 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

KABUL, Afghanistan – A suicide bomber on Tuesday targeted the Supreme Court building in the Afghan capital, Kabul, killing at least 19 people, officials said.

Ismail Kawasi, the public health ministry spokesman, said 41 people were also wounded in the explosion, which hit near a side door used for court employees to leave the building at the end of the work day.

Najib Danish, deputy spokesman for the Interior Ministry, said not all the victims have been identified yet but that an investigation was underway.

NIGERIAN TROOPS SAVE LIFE OF SUICIDE BOMBER, PREVENT ATTACK

The attacker was on foot and detonated his suicide vest packed with explosive near the employees and other people as they were coming out of the main court building, Danish added.

No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack but Taliban insurgents have attacked the top court and its employees in the past, as well as court buildings in the other provinces.

The Kabul bombing came hours after a roadside bombing killed the top government official of a district in western Farah province. Taliban spokesman Qari Yusouf Ahmadi said the group claimed responsibility for that attack.

A Farah police spokesman, Iqbal Baher, said that Abdul Khaliq, the top official in the Khak-e-Safed district, was on his way home from the mosque when the explosion took place in the city of Farah, the provincial capital.

Taliban insurgents frequently use roadside bombs and suicide attacks to target government officials as well as Afghan security forces across the country.