Suicide bomber kills 12 at Afghan ministry entrance

kabul-blast-ap Afghan security personnel arrives at the site of suicide attack in the city of Jalalabad east of Kabul, Afghanistan, Monday. A suicide bomber wounded at least 10 civilians when he struck near the education department in the eastern city of Jalalabad | AP

A suicide bomber killed 12 people and wounded more than 30 on Monday at the entrance to Afghanistan's rural rehabilitation and development ministry in the west of the capital, government spokesmen said.

No group immediately claimed responsibility."Woman, children and employees of the ministry are among the victims," Najib Danish, spokesman for the interior ministry, told Reuters.

Afghan Taliban militants on Saturday announced a surprise three-day ceasefire over the Muslim Eid holiday at the end of this week, their first offer of its kind, days after the government declared an unconditional ceasefire of its own against the Taliban.