Officials and witnesses said several heavily armed suicide bombers stormed a compound housing the office of Afghanistan Green Trend (AGT), a political movement headed by the country’s former spy chief, Amrullah Saleh. Saleh is also a vice-presidential candidate of incumbent President Ashraf Ghani’s electoral team for the country’s upcoming election.
The incident occurred just hours after Ghani and Saleh attended an election rally in Kabul as the official campaign to elect news president of Afghanistan kicked off Sunday.
The attack began with one of the assailants detonating a car packed with explosives, enabling others to enter the facility. Afghan commando forces quickly surrounded the area in their bid to neutralize the attackers.
Afghan Public Health Ministry spokesman said rescue teams have taken 25 injured people to nearby hospitals along with the two bodies.
There were no immediate claims of responsibly for the attack. Kabul has been rocked by repeated attacks in recent days, claimed both by the Taliban and loyalists of Islamic State.
Interior Ministry spokesman Nasrat Rahimi said that Afghan forces rescued 40 people to safety and a clearing operation was underway.
Saleh is an outspoken critic of the Taliban insurgency.
President Ghani tweeted that the former head of the National Directorate of Security (NDS) “has survived a complex attack by enemies of the state.”