(MENAFN- Arab News) KABUL: A large explosion struck close to Kabul airport on Monday causing at least 10 casualties near to the area where a suicide bomber blew himself up earlier in the day in the latest in a series of attacks in the Afghan capital over the past week. The attacks occurred even as Afghan special forces in the northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif fought to suppress a small group of insurgents holding out after an attack on the Indian consulate on Sunday night.
Thousands had gathered to welcome the Afghan national football team on its return from India where it lost a South Asia championship Sunday night but they had dispersed by the time the bomb went off.
A police official said a small truck packed with explosives detonated near Camp Baron a heavily protected residential compound for civilian technical contractors close to the airport smashing windows and badly damaging nearby houses.
The official said the blast caused at least 10 casualties outside the gates of the compound. There did not appear to be any inside the compound and there were no immediate details on what numbers of the casualties were killed or wounded.
Medical aid group Emergency which runs a hospital in Kabul said it was receiving wounded at its surgical center.
Meanwhile Afghan troops rappelled from helicopters onto the roof of a four-story building near the Indian Consulate in a northern city on Monday to drive out gunmen who had attacked the mission the night before officials said.
The standoff in the northern Balkh province began Sunday night when the attackers tried to storm the consulate and then retreated into the adjacent building.
Munir Ahmad Farhad the spokesman for the provincial governor confirmed that Afghan forces had been airdropped onto the building. Sher Jan Durani the provincial police spokesman said men armed with rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs) and light weapons had fired on troops from inside the building into the morning hours.
"At least two Afghan security forces were killed in the attack" Farhad said adding that since the building is close to a residential area "we are careful to avoid civilian casualties."
Dr. Noor Mohammad Faiz a local health official said three civilians and six soldiers have been hospitalized with wounds.
No group has claimed the Kabul attack or the assault on the Indian Consulate. The Taliban have carried out similar attacks in the past.
The attacks have coincided with renewed efforts to restart stalled peace talks with the Taliban.