Europe 1 with AFP 3:23 p.m., September 05, 2022

Two people who worked in the Russian Embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan were killed on Monday in a bomb attack that took place not far from the building.

Kremlin spokesman Dimitri Peskov quickly condemned this act via a telephone press briefing.

Two employees of the Russian embassy in Kabul in Afghanistan were killed Monday in a bomb attack near the diplomatic representation, announced the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

"At 10:50 a.m. local time, in the immediate vicinity of the Russian Embassy in Kabul, an unidentified fighter set off an explosive device. Two employees of the diplomatic mission were killed in the attack," Russian diplomacy said in a statement. press release, also mentioning "wounded among Afghan nationals".

"This is unacceptable" 

The Russian embassy "is in close contact with the Afghan security services, which have started an investigation," added the Russian Foreign Ministry.

"We are talking about a terrorist attack. It is unacceptable," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov quickly condemned during a telephone press briefing.

"It was a suicide attack, but before the terrorist could reach his target, he was neutralized by our teams," the Afghan interior ministry told AFP.

According to the same source, the individual was targeting the Russian embassy.

Earlier in the day, the Russian news agency Ria-Novosti, citing an anonymous source, said that "between 15 and 20 people were killed or injured by the explosion".

An explosion in a mosque on Friday 

The explosion took place when a Russian diplomat came out of a diplomatic representation building to announce the names of people who could apply for a visa, according to the same source.

Russia is one of the few countries to have kept its embassy open after the Taliban took over power in August 2021, without however having recognized their government.

Violence has largely subsided since the Taliban returned to power last year, but several bomb attacks - some of which targeted minority communities - have rocked the country in recent months, many claimed by the jihadist group Islamic State (IE).

Government officials have regularly attempted to downplay such incidents.

On Friday, a huge explosion rocked one of the largest mosques in Herat, western Afghanistan, killing 18 people including its influential imam, Mujib ur Rahman Ansari.