<div><span style="font-size: 1rem;"><b>An explosion outside the Afghan Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the center of Kabul on Wednesday has killed at least five people, police said.&nbsp;</b></span><br></div><div><br></div><div>The blast in front of a gate to the ministry took place at a time when many employees were leaving their offices.</div><div><br></div><div>As security personnel cordoned off the area, Kabul police spokesman Khalid Zadran told Arab News that the explosion took place at 4 p.m. on the road in front of the ministry.</div><div><br></div><div>“At least five civilians were martyred and a number of others wounded as a result of the explosion,” he added in a later statement to the media.</div><div><br></div><div>No group has immediately claimed responsibility for the explosion.</div><div><br></div><div>The blast comes as the Taliban announced the killing of a number of militants and the arrest of others during raids in Kabul and two other provinces on Jan. 4.</div><div><br></div><div>The operation targeted “a dangerous and significant network of Daesh” believed to be behind recent high-profile attacks in the capital, the Taliban said.</div><div><br></div><div>A regional affiliate of Daesh known as Islamic State Khorasan Province, or Daesh-K, claimed responsibility for a Dec. 2 attack on the Pakistani Embassy in what officials in Islamabad said was an assassination attempt against the country’s top envoy in Afghanistan.</div><div><br></div><div>On Dec. 11, Daesh gunmen stormed a hotel that caters to Chinese businessmen in central Kabul. The assailants were killed and another 21 people, including two foreigners, were wounded in a gunbattle lasting several hours.</div><div><br></div><div>On Jan. 2, Daesh claimed responsibility for an explosion outside the Kabul military airport that caused multiple casualties among Taliban security forces. - Arab News&nbsp;</div><div><br></div><div>bnbd24/fas</div>