Kabul suicide bomber kills 13 at Afghan ministry entrance

'Woman, children and employees of the ministry are among the victims,' says ministry spokesperson

The bomb was detonated outside the gates of the ministry (Reuters)

A suicide bomber has killed 13 people and injured more than 25 others in an attack outside Afghanistan's rural rehabilitation and development ministry in Kabul.

The blast occurred during rush hour this morning when several of the ministry's staff were arriving to work.

Isis has claimed responsibility for the blast, but the terror group has presented no evidence to back up the claim.

Security officials say the strike was more likely to have come from someone working with the Haqqani network, a Taliban-affiliated group.

Najib Danish, a spokesperson for the interior ministry, said: "Woman, children and employees of the (rehabilitation) ministry are among the victims."

The suicide bomber detonated an explosive vest at the gates of the ministry.

A spokesperson for the ministry said: "The ministry has a kindergarten where the employees bring their children. Casualties among those children is possible but for the moment we don’t know exactly."

The attack comes a week after a suicide bomber on a motorcycle detonated a bomb near a gathering of Muslim clerics in Kabul, killing 14 people.

It is thought the attack was carried out in response to clerics who issued a fatwa against suicide bombings.

Recently the Taliban declared its first ever ceasefire over the Muslim Eid holiday, however it is unclear when the holiday officially begins as it commences when the moon is first sighted, therefore it could be either Thursday and Friday.

The Afghan government agreed to the ceasefire with the Taliban, however stated it would continue with operations against other terror groups such as IS during the truce.

Additional reporting by Reuters