Taliban claims deadly car bomb attack in Kabul

The Taliban claimed the car bomb attack which killed at least three people and wounded several others in the Afghan capital Kabul on Saturday in an apparent attack on a foreign contractor company.

Interior Ministry spokesman Najib Danesh said all those killed and wounded in the explosion were civilians with no casualties among the contractors.

Witnesses said the casualty toll was higher but confirmed that, like countless other attacks in Kabul, its victims were ordinary people going about their daily activities.

"All those killed were barbers or shoeshine men. I was horrified when I saw their bodies," said Mohammad Osman, who was nearby when the explosion shattered nearby buildings and who said he had seen four or five bodies.

It was the fourth suicide attack in Kabul in three weeks and comes days after the top US general in Afghanistan said protecting the war-weary city was "our main effort".

It also comes as the Taliban faces growing pressure to take up Afghan President Ashraf Ghani's offer last month of peace talks to end the 16-year war.