Two journalists — an AFP photographer and a cameraman for a local TV station are among 21 people killed Monday morning, as suicide bombers hit Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan.
Wahid Majroh, the public health ministry’s spokesman who gave the latest casualty tolls said at least 27 people were wounded.
No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, but both Taliban and Islamic State group are active and have repeatedly claimed attacks in Kabul.
Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported that the news agency’s chief photographer in Kabul, Shah Marai, was among those killed.
AFP said Marai died in a blast that was targeting a group of journalists who had rushed to the scene of the earlier suicide attack in Kabul.
Sediqullah Tawhidi, an official from the Afghan Journalist Safety Committee, said a cameraman form the local TOLO TV was also killed.
Police officer Jan Agha said the journalists died in the second blast, which also wounded two police officers.
The suicide attacks took place in the central Shash Darak area, which is home to the NATO headquarters and a number of embassies in Afghanistan, while the second was meant to hit those rushing to the scene of the attack to help the victims of the first blast.
Kabul chief of police Dawood Amin said the area of Kabul that was targeted, which includes many foreign offices, was quickly sealed off.
Mohammad Mousa Zahir, director of Wazir Akbarkhan Hospital, said several people suffering injuries from the blasts were being treated at the hospital.
The local Islamic State group affiliate and the more firmly established Taliban carry out regular attacks around the country, with the Taliban usually targeting the government and security forces and ISIS targeting the Shiite minority.
Large-scale attacks by the two militant groups have also hit the Afghan capital.
Both groups want to establish strict Islamic rule in Afghanistan.
