UPDATE - Suicide attack kills 10 in Afghan capital Kabul

UPDATES WITH DEATH TOLL RISING TO 10, DAESH CLAIM OF RESPONSIBILITY, REACTION, BACKGROUND, EDITS THROUGHOUT

By Shadi Khan Saif

KABUL (AA) - A suicide blast close to the compound of Afghanistan's intelligence agency on Monday left 10 dead, officials said.

The explosion near the offices of the National Directorate of Security (NDS) killed two agency staff and eight civilians, the Ministry of Public Health said.

Daesh claimed responsibility for the attack, in which a suicide bomber on foot targeted the NDS premises in Kabul’s Shash Darak Street near the diplomatic zone at around 8.00 a.m. (0330GMT).

In a statement on its website, Daesh’s Afghanistan branch claimed responsibility and published an image of a young man it identified as the bomber.

Condemning the attack, President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani said: “The enemies of peace and stability, with such attacks, will never reach their sinister goals but people’s hatred and disgust towards them will increase day by day.”

Last week, three Daesh militants were killed in an attack on an NDS training center in Kabul.

The Defense Ministry told parliament Monday that up to 2,000 Daesh militants were active across Afghanistan. The group has been active in the country since January 2015.