UPDATE - Daesh claims Kabul attack that killed 15 people

UPDATES WITH PAKISTANI FOREIGN MINISTRY'S STATEMENT

By Shadi Khan Saif

KABUL, Afghanistan (AA) - Pro-Daesh militants have claimed late Thursday's suicide attack in the Afghan capital, Kabul which killed at least 15 people, officials confirmed Friday.

The Amaq news agency of the militants said a suicide bomber targeted police and intelligence officers busy in an operation in the Banayee area of the city. Police in Kabul had recently conducted an operation against suspected drug traffickers in the same neighborhood.

Najib Danish, deputy spokesman for the Ministry of Interior, told Anadolu Agency that policemen and civilians were among the victims.

According to the local Tolo News, 15 people got killed and around 20 people wounded in the bombing, which President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani called an "inhuman terrorist attack".

This comes a week after Daesh claimed a suicide attack aimed at a Tehran-backed cultural center killing 50 people in Kabul, and another one during funeral prayers in Jalalabad city killing 15 people.

Meanwhile, Pakistan condemned the Thursday's attack in the Afghan capital.

“We are grieved at the loss of precious lives in this terrorist attack and express our heartfelt condolences with the families and friends of those who have lost their loved ones and pray for early recovery of the injured,” Pakistan’s Foreign Office said in a statement.

“Pakistan reiterates its unequivocal condemnation of terrorism in all its forms and manifestations and its firm resolve to eradicate this menace,” the statement added.