Scene of blast: Afghanistan security forces outside the French cultural centre in Kabul. Photo: AP

Kabul: A teenage bomber on targeted a Kabul auditorium packed with people watching a drama condemning suicide attacks, killing at least one person and wounding 16, officials and a witness said.

The suicide blast, at a French cultural centre, was the second to strike the Afghan capital in a day, after six Afghan soldiers died when their bus was hit on the outskirts of the city as they rode into work.

The violence, part of a nationwide campaign by Taliban insurgents to strike at military and civilian targets, came less than three weeks before the year-end deadline for most foreign combat soldiers to withdraw from the country.

Deputy Interior Minister General Ayoub Salangi said the suspected theatre bomber appeared to have been about 17 years old and detonated his explosives inside the venue.

Advertisement

"I heard a deafening explosion ... There were Afghans, foreigners, young girls and young boys watching the show," said Sher Ahmad, an Afghan rights activist who was at the performance.

He said the blast came during a performance of a new play called Heartbeat: Silence After the Explosion, a condemnation of suicide attacks.

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said the bomber targeted the event because it was staged "to insult Islamic values and spread propaganda about our jihad operations, especially on suicide attacks".

Amid the confusion immediately after the blast, one person could be heard saying, "It's all part of the show", in a video posted on YouTube purporting to be of the attack.

Early police reports said the bomber attacked the French-run Lycee Esteqlal, one of Kabul's oldest and most highly respected high schools, but Mr Ahmad said the performance was at the French Cultural Centre located in the same compound.

The person confirmed killed by police appeared to be a foreign man, General Salangi said, but he could not immediately confirm his identity or nationality.

The French government said in a statement that "several" people were killed in the attack and "many" more injured, but none of the fatalities were French nationals.

The venue was heavily guarded during the event in the auditorium, said Kabul police chief Abdul Rahman Rahimi, who added that the bomber may have hidden explosives in his underwear to pass through security. He said the bomber detonated the blast at the top of the auditorium's stairs, which may have prevented higher casualties.

Earlier on Thursday, a suicide bomber targeted a bus carrying Afghan army personnel, the Defence Ministry said, ending a near two-week lull in attacks in the capital. As well as the six soldiers killed, 11 were wounded.

Five Afghan schoolchildren were also reported killed in a foreign forces air strike in northern Parwan province, Afghan officials said.

The International Security Assistance Force confirmed an air strike in the area, but said five insurgents were killed.

Reuters