WORLD NEWS

KABUL: A suicide bomber killed 10 people near an upmarket shopping and hotel complex in the heart of Kabul on Friday, and police shot dead two other would-be attackers, officials said.

Witnesses reported at least two smaller blasts around the Safi Landmark complex as police cordoned off the area, ambulances rushed to the scene and sporadic gunfire was heard.

A military official said that 10 people were killed and 11 others wounded. The explosion struck around 6:30 am (0200 GMT), a day after the Afghan flag was raised over a southern town at the centre of a US-led offensive designed to evict Taliban militants and reinstate Afghan government control. Witnesses said it was followed by two or three smaller blasts as grey smoke billowed over the area.

"In our hospital we have seven bodies," said General Ahmadzia Yaftali, head of the Afghan army medical operations. Another three bodies had been taken to a nearby hospital run by the Afghan government's intelligence agency, he said.

"A suicide bomber detonated himself in front of a kebab shop near the Safi Landmark," interior ministry spokesman Zemarai Bashary said. "Two other suicide bombers were shot dead by police in the same area," he said, while playing down witness reports that other gunmen had entered the Safi Landmark buildings.