A suicide bombing outside the Russian embassy in the Afghan capital of Kabul has killed two members of the embassy staff and at least one Afghan civilian, in what Moscow denounced as an "unacceptable terrorist act".
The blast went off at the entrance to the embassy's consular section, where Afghans were waiting for news about their visas, according to the Russian Foreign Ministry and the state news agency RIA Novosti.
A Russian diplomat had emerged from the building to call out the names of candidates for visas when the explosion occurred, the agency said.
Russia's Investigative Committee said one of the two embassy staff killed was the embassy's second secretary, while the other was a security guard.
No-one immediately claimed responsibility for the blast, the latest in a series of attacks since the Taliban seized power a year ago, deposing a Western-backed government and capping their 20-year insurgency.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov called the explosion "a terrorist act, absolutely unacceptable".
He told reporters during his daily press conference call that "now the main thing that needs to be done is to get information from the ground about what happened to our diplomatic representatives".
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said the embassy has enhanced its security in the wake of the attack, and that "additional forces of the Taliban authorities", including the Taliban-run intelligence service, had been brought in.
"Let's hope that the organisers of this terrorist act and its perpetrators will be punished," Mr Lavrov said.
Khalid Zadran, a spokesman for the Kabul police chief, said at least one civilian was killed and 10 others had been wounded.
Mr Zadran said a suicide bomber had been identified and shot by security forces before he could get close to the crowd waiting outside the embassy.
It was not immediately clear if the attacker was able to set off the blast before being shot, or if the gunfire detonated the explosives.
Even though there was no immediate claim of responsibility, immediate suspicion fell on the extremist Islamic State (IS) group.
The local affiliate of IS has stepped up attacks against the Taliban and civilians since the former insurgents took over the country last year as US and NATO troops were in the final stages of their withdrawal.
Video footage purporting to show the aftermath of the blast, which has not yet been verified, has been posted to social media, showing a cloud of smoke rising from the embassy and people in a crowded street moving away from the scene.
Russia is one of the few countries to have maintained an embassy in Kabul after the Taliban took over more than a year ago.
Although Moscow does not officially recognise the Taliban's government, officials from the two governments have engaged in trade talks.
ABC/wires
