Six killed in suicide attack near the Afghan spy training center

Afghan security personnel monitor the site of a suicide attack in Kabul on Monday. Photo: AFPA suicide bomber on foot blew himself up near a complex belonging to the Afghan intelligence agency in Kabul on Monday, killing six civilians, authorities said.

The attacker struck at a time when workers arrived at their offices. It comes a week after the militants stormed a training center of the National Security Directorate (NDS) in the Afghan capital.

Interior Ministry spokesman Najib Danish told AFP that six civilians in a car were killed when the attacker detonated himself.

"Six people were martyred and three others were injured," Danish said.

"They were hit when they were passing the area in their Toyota sedan, we still do not know the target of the attack, but it happened on the main road."

The Ministry of Health confirmed the death toll, but calculated the number of wounded in one.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the latest attack in Kabul that in recent months has become one of the deadliest places in the country devastated by war for civilians.

An AFP reporter at the scene of the explosion said the attack occurred outside the main entrance of an NDS complex. Security forces have invaded the area, closing the main road leading to the building.

Ambulances were seen leaving the scene, apparently taking casualties in hospitals in the city.

"Our initial information shows that an explosion occurred near an intelligence headquarters in the Shash Darak neighborhood of Kabul," Interior Ministry spokesman Nasrat Rahimi told AFP.

Last week's attack on the NDS was claimed by the Islamic State, which has expanded its presence in Afghanistan since it first appeared in the region in 2015.

It has expanded its attacks in Kabul, including those of the Shia minority in the country.

The resurgent Taliban and increasingly IS are intensifying their attacks on security facilities and mosques.

On Friday, a suicide bomber drove a Humvee loaded with explosives to a police compound in the southern province of Kandahar, killing at least six officers and destroying a building.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the pre-dawn ambush.

Afghan forces, already besieged by defections and corruption, have seen casualties rise to what a US watchdog described as "surprisingly high" levels since NATO forces officially ended their combat mission in 2014 and began a role of training and support.

Morale has been eroded by fears that the militants have internal help, from infiltrators in the ranks to corrupt officials selling equipment to the Taliban.