KABUL, July 25 (Xinhua) -- Afghanistan's capital Kabul witnessed three bloody blasts that have left 11 dead and 45 injured during the visit of Chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff General Joseph Dunford to Afghanistan on Thursday.
The first blast, according to Interior Ministry spokesman Nasrat Rahimi, targeted a mini-bus of the Ministry of Mines in the morning rush hour at 8:10 a.m. local time in Police District 16, killing five civilians and injuring 16 others, including women and children.
The second and third blast, which occurred in a span of few minutes, had also claimed lives of six civilians, according to Rahimi.
Five women and a child were among the 11 civilians killed in the triple blasts, Rahimi asserted.
The spokesman also said that all the 45 people injured in the multiple blasts were civilians including women and children.
Although the officials put the attacks on the "enemies of peace," a reference to the Taliban militants, the armed outfit has claimed responsibility for only one of the blasts, claiming the militant group targeted the U.S.-led foreign forces stationed in Afghanistan.
Zabihullah Majahid, a purported spokesman for the Taliban, said the militants targeted a convoy of foreign forces in the Police District 9 Thursday morning, killing "nine invaders" and destroying two vehicles.
However, Rahimi spurned the Taliban's claim, saying all the casualties of the "terrorist attack in Police District 9" were civilians.
The multiple bombings happened amid the visit of U.S. General Dunford to Afghanistan.
During his stay in Afghanistan, Dunford met with Afghan President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani, as well as commanders of the U.S.-led foreign forces stationed in Afghanistan.
U.S. special envoy for peace in Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad is also currently in Kabul to meet Afghan leaders and brief them about his talks with the Taliban for reconciliation in Afghanistan.
