A suicide bombing outside the Russian Embassy in the Afghan capital of Kabul on Monday killed two members of the embassy staff and at least one civilian, a local police official and a Russian state news agency said. It was unclear if the attacker detonated the explosives himself or whether they went off when security forces shot him.
A higher death toll was expected, with conflicting reports saying between eight and 10 people had been killed. The RIA Novosti news agency said explosion went off when a Russian diplomat came out to people waiting outside the embassy to call out the names of candidates for visas. Citing Moscow's Foreign Ministry, the agency later reported that two members of the embassy staff were killed.
Khalid Zadran, a spokesman for the Kabul police chief, said at least one civilian was killed and that 10 others were wounded. Zadran said a suicide bomber was involved in the blast. He said the bomber was identified by security forces before he could get closer to the crowd waiting outside the embassy. Zadran said security forces shot the assailant. It was not immediately clear if the attacker was able to set off the blast before being shot, or if the gunfire detonated the explosives.
