Suicide bomb kills at least 20 at Afghanistan's Supreme Court

Feb. 7 (UPI) -- A suicide bomber killed at least 20 people outside Afghanistan's Supreme Court, Kabul police said Tuesday.

At least 45 more were injured, with the casualty count expected to rise. The attack at 3:45 p.m. Tuesday occurred in the court parking lot and coincided with employees leaving the building, said Basir Mojahid, spokesman for Kabul's chief of police.

The suicide bomber wore a vest of explosives and was on foot, said Najib Danish, Interior Ministry spokesman.

The force of the explosion broke windows in the area and sent debris into the streets.

It came hours after a senior official in Afghanistan's western Farah province died in a bombing. The Taliban took responsibility for that attack, but no group immediately announced its involvement in Tuesday's Kabul explosion.

In January, two suicide bombings near the Afghan Parliament in Kabul killed at least 36 people and injured dozens more; the Taliban claimed responsibility. While the Islamic State conducts attacks in Afghanistan, it mainly targets the country's Shiite population and not the capital or the government.

The United Nations said Monday that 3,498 civilians died in violence in Afghanistan in 2016, a 3 percent increase over 2015.