63 dead, over 140 injured after massive blast rocks Afghanistan's Kabul; Taliban claims responsibility

At least 63 people were killed and over 140 wounded after the explosion hit an area of the Afghan capital Kabul on Saturday near many foreign embassies and government buildings.

The explosion occurred at the Sadarat square in center of the city, a week after a deadly attack on the Intercontinental Hotel.

The blast was caused by a car bomb close to the gate of the old Ministry of Interior building in the city.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the blast.

#Kabul - Video shows the aftermath of a heavy explosion close to the old Ministry of Interior building in Kabul's PD2. pic.twitter.com/T03iI0qicB

— TOLOnews (@TOLOnews) January 27, 2018

"It is a massacre," said Dejan Panic coordinator in Afghanistan for the Italian aid group Emergency, which runs a nearby trauma hospital.

Mirwais Yasini, a member of parliament who was nearby when the explosion occurred, said the ambulance approached the checkpoint, close to an office of the High Peace Council and a number of foreign embassies, and blew up.

AFP reporters heard a loud explosion that rattled the windows of their compound and photos posted online purportedly of the blast showed a huge plume of smoke rising into the sky.