At
least two people have been killed and others injured in a bombing near
the entrance to Russia's embassy in the Afghan capital Kabul, officials
say.
The dead are Russian embassy staff, the foreign ministry in Moscow said, adding there were also Afghan casualties.
Earlier,
state-owned news agency RIA reported that a diplomat and an embassy
security guard had been wounded in an apparent suicide bombing.
No group has yet said it carried out the attack.
Police
in Kabul said the would-be suicide bomber targeted the embassy but was
shot dead as he approached, resulting in his explosives detonating.
However, Russia's foreign ministry said the attacker had set the explosives off.
Russia
is one of the few countries to maintain a diplomatic presence in
Afghanistan after the Taliban seized control of the country in August
last year.
Russia
does not officially recognise the Taliban's government. However the two
sides have held discussions over agreements pertaining to the Afghan
purchase of commodities like wheat, gas and oil from Moscow
