AKIPRESS.COM - Afghan president Ashraf Ghani says several people have been killed or wounded after a suicide car bomber blew himself up near the defense ministry in the heart of the capital, Al Jazeera reports.

The explosion went off in the center of the city at a busy time. The Taliban later claimed responsibility for the attack.

"What we know from police sources is that a suicide bomber, who was driving a vehicle with explosives, detonated himself targeting a convoy of Afghan army near the defense ministry building," says the report.

"Witnesses are telling us the attack was followed by some gunfire. The Afghan police believe there could be a number of attackers in one of the buildings nearby."

A Kabul police spokesman, Basir Mujahid, said that the gunfight was ongoing.

"The Taliban fighters are still fighting with the security forces," Mujahid said.

In a statement, the Presidential Palace condemned the attack "in the strongest possible terms."

"The explosion has caused a lot of damage to the government," Zabihullah Mujahid, a Taliban spokesman, said.

A spokesman for an emergency hospital in the city said it had received eight lightly wounded Afghan soldiers.