'Horrifying' Taliban bombing kills at least ten people in Kabul

The explosion hit Shash Darak, a heavily fortified area adjacent to the Green Zone and home to several important complexes including the National Directorate of Security (NDS), the Afghan intelligence service.

The blast on Thursday morning was also closer to where the Islamic State group killed nine journalists in a bombing in April last year.

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid claimed responsibility for the attack on Twitter, saying a "martyrdom seeker", or suicide bomber, had triggered the car bomb, killing 12 "foreign invaders".

Interior Minister Nasrat Rahimi confirmed the blast had been caused by a car bomb at 10:10am local time.

Rahimi said that the lives of ten civilians were claimed in the attack and that 42 more were wounded.

However, Romania's defence ministry said in a statement that a Romanian soldier "lost his life today while executing a mixed patrol mission near [the] Green Zone in Kabul". 

Massoud Zazai, who owns a photo studio across the street from the blast site, said he was in his shop when the explosion happened.

"I fell off my chair and it got dark inside the shop because of smoke and dust," Zazai told AFP.

"I went out to the scene moments after the attack, the side of the road was littered with debris and bodies."

Through the smoke, Zazai said he could hear injured people crying and calling for their mothers and brothers.

"I saw at least five very badly injured, one was covered in blood and not moving. It was horrifying."

The blast came just days after another Taliban attack in Kabul on Monday which killed at least 16 people. A Romanian embassy employee was among those killed.

The capital has been seized by a surge in deadly violence even after the US and the Taliban reached an agreement "in principle" that would see the Pentagon pull thousands of troops from Afghanistan in return for various Taliban security promises - which include an end to such attacks.

In Afghanistan, though, there is increasing fear that the deal could lead to a return of the Taliban to power.

According to parts of the deal made public so far, the US would pull about 5,000 of its 13,000 or so troops from five bases across Afghanistan by early next year, provided the Taliban keep to their security pledges.

The militants have said they will renounce Al-Qaeda, fight the Islamic State group and stop extremists using Afghanistan as a safe haven.

But the Afghan government on Wednesday expressed doubts about the prospective deal, saying officials need more information about the risks it poses.

Even as negotiations for an accord have entered what are widely considered to be the final stages, violence has surged across Afghanistan.

On Saturday, the Taliban attempted to seize the provincial capital of Kunduz in the north and sporadic fighting has continued on the outskirts all week, while on Sunday, insurgents launched an operation in the city of Pul-e Khumri, the capital of neighbouring Baghlan province.