Kabul neighborhood scene of suicide blast

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KABUL, Afghanistan, Nov. 21 (UPI) -- A suicide attack in an area of Kabul that is home to foreign embassies and NATO killed two Afghan security guards Wednesday, officials said.

Police said the attacker detonated his suicide vest near an entrance to a military installation, the BBC reported.

Kabul police chief Ayub Salangi said security forces shot and killed the attacker but not before he detonated his vest.

Five civilians were injured, the Los Angeles Times reported.

"The attacker wanted to get into a building under construction, and this is when he was shot by security forces," Salangi told the BBC.

One media report said the Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack but other media outlets said no one had come forward.

Sediq Seddiqi, a spokesman for the Afghan Interior Ministry, said authorities didn't know the intended target since neighborhood houses international organizations, diplomats and senior government officials, CNN reported.

Afghan police spokesman Hashmat Stanikzai said the blast occurred near the entrance of Camp Eggers, a military facility that houses U.S. military personnel, as well as troops from the International Security Assistance Force and some civilian workers, the Los Angeles Times reported.

ISAF spokesman Lt. Col. Les Carroll said no coalition forces were injured. He said coalition bases in the area were secured and stepped-up precautions were in place.