A Taliban suicide bomber detonated an explosive-laden car in Kabul outside a compound where many foreign workers are based, killing at least two local civilians.
The blast on Friday evening was followed by bursts of gunfire as Afghan quick-reaction security forces rushed to the scene at the Green Village, a fortified residential complex not far from Kabul airport in the east of the city.
Interior ministry spokesman Sediq Sediqqi said a small car packed with explosives hit two vehicles as they were leaving the Green Village compound.
He confirmed that two civilians had been killed, and two more injured.
The Taliban militant group quickly claimed responsibility for the strike.
The Afghan capital has been relatively peaceful in recent months after a series of suicide bomb and gun attacks earlier this year when foreign compounds, the Supreme Court, the airport and the presidential palace were all targeted.
Friday's attack comes as pressure grows on the Afghan government to seek a peace deal with the rebels.
The US has been pushing for peace talks as 87,000 NATO combat troops prepare to leave Afghanistan next year and local security forces take on the fight against the Islamist extremists.
But a Taliban office in Qatar that opened in June to foster peace talks enraged President Hamid Karzai as it appeared to be an unofficial embassy for a government-in-exile.
The Taliban, who have been fighting a guerilla war for 12 years, have consistently refused to hold any talks with the Afghan government, with militant leaders labelling Karzai as a puppet of the US.
