Suicide car bomb explosion rocks Kabul police base in Afghanistan

QUICK PILL

• Several bodies were strewn around the area, a photographer with the AFP news agency reported from the scene.

• Afghanistan sees the support of Pakistan as vital to bringing the Taliban to the negotiating table. But despite the growing bonhomie with Islamabad, analysts caution that any substantive talks are still a long way off.

A powerful explosion was heard in Afghanistan's capital Kabul after a suicide bomber reportedly tried to enter a police building on Monday. Several bodies were strewn around the area, a photographer with the AFP news agency reported from the scene.

According to reports, ambulances rushed to the spot. There was no further immediate information on the target or number of casualties from the "powerful" blast.

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The backdrop:

File Photo

The blast came a month after Pakistan's powerful army chief General Raheel Sharif visited Kabul to prepare the ground for fresh peace talks with the resurgent Taliban. Pakistan, Taliban's historic backers, hosted a milestone first round of talks in July but the negotiations stalled when the insurgents belatedly confirmed the death of longtime leader Mullah Omar.

Afghanistan sees the support of Pakistan as vital in bringing the Taliban to the negotiating table. But despite the growing bonhomie with Islamabad, analysts caution that any kind of substantive talk is still a long way off.

Afghan forces are currently battling to push out Taliban insurgents who seized large swathes of the key opium-rich district of Sangin in the southern province of Helmand.

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With AFP inputs