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Loud blast rocks Kabul, gunfire reported


    KABUL (Reuters) - A loud explosion rocked Kabul on Friday in a heavily protected area close to many foreign embassies and government buildings, with initial police reports suggesting at least three attackers had targeted a guesthouse close to the Spanish embassy.

    Interior Ministry spokesman Sediq Sediqqi tweeted the explosion appeared to have come from a car bomb.

    Police were on the scene and an official said that gunfire had broken out after the explosion, but there were no immediate details of any damage or casualties.

    The blast, which interrupted several months of relative calm in the Afghan capital, came after President Ashraf Ghani returned from a regional peace conference in Islamabad aimed at reviving stalled peace talks with Taliban militants.

    It came days after an insurgent attack on the airport complex in the southern city of Kandahar killed 50 civilians and security forces personnel.

    (Reporting by Hamid Shalizi and James Mackenzie; Editing by Mike Collett-White)