Taliban government officials said a man who attempted to carry out an attack inside a ministry compound was killed by guards before he could reach his target. There was an explosion due to the incident.

A blast at Afghanistan’s Urban Development and Housing Ministry compound on Thursday killed at least one and injured three others, Taliban government officials said.

A spokesperson for the ministry told the Associated Press news agency that a man had attempted to carry out an attack inside the compound but was shot and killed by guards before he reached his target.

Interior Ministry spokesman Abdul Mateen Qani told AFP news agency that the “apparent suicide attacker wanted to enter the ministry and one of the mujahideen [security forces] shot him and then in the result of the explosion another person near him was killed and three injured.”

Second bombing attack in a week

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack. But it comes two days after the so-called “Islamic State” group claimed a bomb attack outside a bank in northeastern Afghanistan, which killed at least five people.

Islamic State attacks have been fairly frequent in Afghanistan since the Taliban returned in 2021, as the group challenges the Taliban’s rule.