KABUL — A massive suicide vehicle bomb exploded Wednesday near a foreign compound on the eastern outskirts of the Afghan capital, sparking a gun battle that continued into the night, police and U.N. officials said.
A security alert sent to United Nations staff in Kabul said the blast occurred near the compound of a private security company between a residential area for foreign aid workers and the military side of the capital’s international airport. The notice said the explosion was followed by exchanges of gunfire that were continuing.
The airport was closed for all takeoffs and landings.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack. The Afghan Health Ministry said 11 people were wounded and transported to hospitals, but no other details were immediately available.
An Afghan official told local media that the suicide vehicle detonated outside the front gate of an international private security compound, after which several gunmen attacked the compound on foot. The area has been cordoned off by Afghan security forces.
The Reuters news agency, citing a senior security official, reported that the blast site was close to the compound of British security contractor group G4S, near an industrial park on the main road leading out of Kabul toward eastern Afghanistan.
Tremors from the explosion at about 7 p.m. local time could be felt in downtown Kabul.
The blast site is also near Afghanistan’s National Election Commission and a national prison on the same main highway.
Hours before the explosion, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani appeared at a U.N.-sponsored conference in Geneva, where he spoke of his government’s efforts to open peace talks with Taliban insurgents.
The site of the explosion was near Green Village, a large secure residential compound on the eastern outskirts of Kabul where many American and European aid workers and contractors stay.
The Green Village has also been used by U.S. and other foreign military contractors. It is not used by diplomats.
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