A suicide bomb attack outside the foreign ministry in Kabul, Afghanistan's capital has killed no fewer than 20 people and injured many others, the Taliban have said.
A spokesman said that the attacker had planned to enter the foreign office but did not succeed.
A photo of the area showed at least nine people wounded or killed lying outside the ministry as security forces attended to them, Sky News reports.
The blast hit around 4 pm local time (11 am GMT), Kabul's police spokesperson Khalid Zadran said. He said officials were investigating.
The Taliban-run government has been fighting an insurgency by Islamic State militants, who have targeted foreigners at sites such as the Russian and Pakistani embassies and a hotel catering to Chinese businessmen.