By DPA,
Kabul : Several blasts and gunfire rocked the Afghan capital Kabul Wednesday ahead of a visit by US special envoy Richard Holbrooke, causing an unknown number of casualties, police and witnesses said.
A senior police official said that a suicide bomber attacked the justice ministry, located in the heart of the city, and which is also close to the finance ministry and the south gate of the Presidential Palace, causing an unknown number of casualties.
The police official also said over the phone that gunfire was heard near the palace, but refused to give further details on the events.
Holbrooke, who was named by US President Barack Obama as a special envoy to the region, is expected in Afghanistan Thursday.
Another suicide bomber attacked a police convoy in the northern part of Kabul, but a witness, Mohammad Ismail, said that the attacker targeted a foreign military convoy.
Witnesses also said that a suicide bomber, who was surrounded by police forces in the education ministry, had not yet detonated his explosives.
Tolo, a private TV channel, quoting a Taliban spokesman, said that seven bombers attacked different government buildings Wednesday. Two suicide bombers reportedly entered the central jail in Kabul.
The TV channel also said at least 10 people were killed in the blasts, but the figure could not be confirmed.