Afghan intelligence chief Asadullah Khalid has been wounded in a Taliban suicide bombing in central Kabul.
Interior ministry officials told the BBC that the National Directorate of Security chief was injured in his lower body by the blast on Thursday.
The Taliban said the bomber had posed as a peace messenger.
The bombing took place in one of many guesthouses used by Mr Khalid, who has been changing location regularly to reduce the risk of attack. He had survived two previous assassination attempts.
Mr Khalid has been in the job as intelligence chief since September. He has a reputation for being fiercely anti-Taliban.
The BBC reports the attack was similar to a suicide bombing in September 2011 that killed Afghan High Peace Council chairman Burhanuddin Rabbani.
Mr Rabbani was killed at his home by a suicide attacker carrying a bomb believed to have been concealed in his turban.
Mr Khalid survived an attempt on his life in the province of Kandahar in October 2011 while serving as the minister of border and tribal affairs.
He also survived a roadside bombing when he was governor of Kandahar in 2008.
Amnesty International accused him of torture and other human rights abuses in the past decade while serving as governor of Ghazni province from 2001-05 and in Kandahar province from 2005-08.
