KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — An Afghan official confirmed that at least five people were killed when a suicide bomber on foot carried out an attack in the capital, Kabul.

Najib Danish, deputy spokesman for the Interior Ministry, said three others were wounded in Wednesday’s blast in central Kabul.

The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for Wednesday’s attack via the IS-run Amaq news agency.

The attack took place near the country’s Defense Ministry compound, as well as a city police station.

Last month around 50 people were killed after militants stormed a military hospital in Kabul; that attack was also claimed by the Islamic State group. </s> KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — An Afghan official says that a suicide bomber has detonated his payload near government offices in the capital.

Najib Danish, deputy spokesman for the Interior Ministry, said it was not yet clear how many people might have been killed or wounded in Wednesday’s blast in central Kabul. He says the target of the attack is also unclear.

Health Ministry spokesman Wahid Mujro says at least two people were wounded in the attack.

No one has claimed responsibility, but the Taliban frequently target the U.S.-backed government and its security forces. </s> In Afghanistan, a suicide bomber killed five people and injured 10 others Wednesday in an attack near government offices in the capital city, Kabul.

Start the conversation, or Read more at Democracy Now. </s> Suicide bombers attacked two police stations in Afghanistan's capital, and then battled security forces from buildings they occupied in the latest spate of violence.

At least five people were killed and 16 wounded in the Wednesday's attacks, said health ministry spokesman Wahidullah Majroh, adding that the casualty toll was likely to rise.

Eight suicide bombers took part in the attacks, one of which was claimed by Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) and the other by the Taliban, Interior Minister Wais Ahmad Barmak said.

However, Afghanistan's intelligence agency blamed the Taliban's Haqqani network and Pakistani group Lashkar-e-Taiba for both attacks.

In the first incident in western Kabul, assailants hurled hand grenades and blew themselves up, setting part of the police station on fire, Barmak said, adding a third suicide bomber was shot and killed by police.

Two police were killed in the attack and two police and a civilian were wounded. ISIL claimed the attack in a brief statement carried by its Aamaq news agency.

The second attack unfolded in the city centre, where a suicide bomber struck the entrance to a police station in order to clear the way for another four bombers.

Barmak said "two or three" more attackers were holed up in a nearby building, trading fire with security forces.The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement sent to media.

Afghanistan's Western-backed government is fighting an intensifying war with both the Taliban and the ISIL group, that has turned much of Kabul into a high-security zone of concrete blast walls and razor wire.

The Afghan capital has seen an increase in bombings and other attacks against security forces and civilians since the Taliban announced the beginning of their spring offensive on April 25.

Fighting traditionally picks up in Afghanistan as warmer weather melts snow in mountain passes, allowing fighters to move around more easily.

Twin suicide bombings claimed by ISIL last week killed at least 25 people, including 10 journalists who had rushed to the scene of the first attack. This was the deadliest assault on reporters since the fall of the Taliban in 2001. </s> At least one person has been killed and four others wounded in a suicide bombing in the Afghan capital, Kabul, according to government officials.

The explosion took place on Friday near a vehicle belonging to foreign workers in the eastern part of the city, Najib Danish, a spokesperson for the interior ministry, said.

Al Jazeera’s Tony Birtley, reporting from Kabul, said Afghanistan’s interior ministry confirmed the attack was a suicide bombing against “foreign forces”.

“We understand that to be NATO employees who were travelling in convoy,” Birtley said.

Local media reports say one person has been killed, and nine others wounded, in the attack, Birtley added.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the explosion.

The Afghan capital has seen a spate of deadly attacks carried out by the Taliban and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS) group, whose affiliate in Afghanistan has grown in recent years.

In January, Taliban claimed responsibility for two separate attacks that killed nearly 130 people.

The blast comes two days after Afghan President Ashraf Ghani offered to recognise the Taliban as a legitimate political group, as part of a proposed process he said could lead to talks aimed at ending more than 16 years of war.

On Thursday, Taliban fighters killed at least six policemen in an attack at a checkpoint in southern Afghanistan, officials said. </s> Taliban claim responsibility for attack that killed at least 24 people in a western Kabul neighbourhood.

At least 24 people have been killed and more than 40 wounded after a suicide car bomb targeted Afghanistan's capital Kabul, officials have said.

The target of Monday's attack was a bus carrying staff of the Ministry of Mines and Petroleum, intelligence officials said.

Najib Danish, an acting Interior Ministry spokesman added that the casualty toll could rise.

Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement.

The attack came just before 7am local time (02:30 GMT) and took place close to the house of the deputy government Chief Executive Mohammad Mohaqi.

The Hazaras are one of Afghanistan's largest ethnic minorities, accounting for up to 20 percent of Afghanistan's 30 million inhabitants.

Hazara Shia Muslims are often the target of sectarian violence in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

The latest suicide bombing adds to the unrelenting violence in Afghanistan, where at least 1,662 civilians were killed in the first half of the year.

It came two weeks after the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) group claimed an attack on a mosque in the capital that killed at least four people.

Kabul has accounted for at least 20 percent of all civilian casualties this year, including at least 150 people killed in a massive truck bomb attack at the end of May, according to UN figures. </s> At least five people have been killed and 10 wounded in a suicide bomb blast near government offices in the heart of Afghanistan's capital, Kabul, according to police.

The incident on Wednesday happened when a suicide bomber on foot detonated his explosives about 100m from the gate of the presidential palace and close to where the Afghan finance ministry is located.

Al Jazeera's Qais Azimy, reporting from Kabul, said both the location and the timing of the attack were very important.

"It happened in District N.2 - almost at the heart of Kabul and one of its safest parts," Azimy said.

"It also happened at the end of the working day, when most of the government employees working in the presidential palace and the finance ministry were rushing to go to their homes."

The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) armed group claimed responsibility for the attack in an online post.

Azimy said ISIL's emergence in Afghanistan and its ability to launch such attacks raised further concerns in a country already struggling to deal with an offensive by the Taliban armed group.

"The people of Kabul and Afghanistan are now more worried because the Afghan security forces are really having a hard time to fight the Taliban, and no one is looking forward for a new group to emerge in this country," Azimy said.

READ MORE: ISIL expands in Afghan-Pakistan areas, widening attacks

ISIL's offshoot in Afghanistan in Pakistan, known as the so-called Khorasan Province, was created in 2015.

The Afghan Taliban, who are trying to overthrow the US-backed government in Kabul, is opposed to it and the two have clashed as they seek to expand territory and influence.

US officials say intelligence suggests ISIL is based overwhelmingly in Nangarhar and neighbouring Kunar province.

Estimates of its strength in Afghanistan vary. US officials have said they believe its has only 700 fighters but Afghan officials estimate it has about 1,500. </s> At least eight civilians were killed in a suicide bombing in Kabul city on Wednesday that targeted a convoy of foreign troops, the Interior Ministry said. At least 25 persons injured in the attack at Abdul Haq square in Macroyan were rushed to Wazir Akbar Khan Hospital, Tolo News quoted the ministry as saying.

The suicide bomber targeted a three-vehicle NATO convoy of foreign forces patrolling near US embassy.

Security forces inspect at the site of a suicide attack in Kabul, Afghanistan, Wednesday, May 3 , 2017. Afghan officials say that at least four people have been killed in a suicide car bomb attack in the capital Kabul. Photo credit: PTI

According to eyewitnesses, security personnel belonging to the coalition forces were targeted in the attack.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack.

The incident comes days after the Taliban announced its spring offensive and vowed to carry out more attacks on government and security personnel and institutions.

On April 12, at least five people were killed in a suicide bombing in Kabul city.

A security source said the attack took place in front of the presidential palace's administrative affairs office, which is close to the PD2 headquarters and the defense ministry. Eyewitnesses said two presidential palace guards are among those killed.

President Ashraf Ghani said in the statement the enemies of Afghanistan are targeting people along highways, in cities, in mosques and schools because they are against development and stability. </s> Security forces stand by after a suicide bomber detonated his payload near government offices in Kabul, Afghanistan, Wednesday, April 12, 2017. A spokesman for the Interior Ministry says it is not yet clear how many people might have been killed or wounded in the blast in central Kabul.

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A suicide bomber kills at least five people and wounds ten more near government offices in Kabul. ISIL claims responsibility for the attack.