Blast kills two employees of Russian Embassy in Kabul

MOSCOW - Two employees of the Russian Embassy in the Afghan capital of Kabul were killed as an unknown militant set off an explosive device near the diplomatic mission on Monday, the Russian Foreign Ministry said.

The explosion occurred at 10:50 am local time (0620 GMT) in the immediate vicinity of the entrance to the consular section of the Russian embassy, the ministry said in a statement.

There were also victims among Afghan citizens, and the embassy is in close contact with the Afghan security services, which are investigating, it added.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said "this was a terrorist act, absolutely unacceptable."