(AP Photos/Massoud Hossaini) (Associated Press) 
 
 KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — A massive explosion rocked a highly secure diplomatic area of Kabul on Wednesday morning, killing at least nine people and wounding as many as 90, and sending a huge plume of smoke over the Afghan capital. The German Embassy, the Foreign Ministry and the Presidential Palace are all in the area, as are the British and the Canadian embassies. No group immediately claimed responsibility for the blast. A massive explosion rocked a highly secure diplomatic area of Kabul on Wednesday morning,... (Associated Press) 
 
 People run to the hospital near the site of a suicide attack in Kabul, Afghanistan, Wednesday, May 31, 2017. The Foreign Ministry in Berlin said it had no immediate information on possible casualties or damage to the German Embassy but was working on trying to get more details from Afghanistan. Hide Caption 13 of 14 Photos: A suicide bomb attack targets Kabul's diplomatic zone A man wounded in the car bomb attack is treated at a hospital in Kabul. Last month, the Afghan Taliban announced the beginning of their spring offensive, promising to build their political base in the country while focusing military assaults on the international coalition and Afghan security forces. Hameed Hakim, who works for a French nonprofit group, was on his way to work in Kabul's Wazir Akbar Khan neighborhood when the noise of the blast stopped him in his tracks. Windows were shattered in shops, restaurants and other buildings up to a kilometer (half mile) from the blast site. The neighborhood is considered Kabul's safest area, with foreign embassies protected by dozens of 10-foot-high blast walls and government offices, guarded by police and national security forces. The United States now has more than 8,000 troops in Afghanistan, training local forces and conducting counterterrorism operations.
– A massive explosion rocked a highly secure diplomatic area of Kabul on Wednesday morning, killing at least 80 people, wounding hundreds more, and sending a huge plume of smoke over the Afghan capital. The target of the attack—which officials said was a suicide car bombing—was not immediately known but a public health ministry spokesman says most of the casualties are civilians and casualty figures are likely to rise, the AP reports. No group immediately claimed responsibility for the blast. Both the Taliban and ISIS have staged large-scale attacks in the Afghan capital in the past. The explosion in the Wazir Akbar Khan district took place at the peak of Kabul's rush hour, when roads are packed with commuters. The neighborhood is considered Kabul's safest area, with foreign embassies protected by dozens of 10-foot-high blast walls and government offices, guarded by police and national security forces. CNN reports that the explosion hit near the German embassy. The blast was so heavy that more than 30 vehicles were either destroyed or damaged at the site of the attack and windows were shattered up to half a mile away. Last month, the Afghan Taliban announced the beginning of their spring offensive, promising to build their political base in the country while focusing military assaults on the international coalition and Afghan security forces.