People run to the hospital near the site of a suicide attack in Kabul, Afghanistan, Wednesday, May 31, 2017. A massive explosion rocked a highly secure diplomatic area of Kabul on Wednesday morning,... (Associated Press) 
 
 People run to the hospital near the site of a suicide attack in Kabul, Afghanistan, Wednesday, May 31, 2017. A massive explosion rocked a highly secure diplomatic area of Kabul on Wednesday morning, causing casualties and sending a huge plume of smoke over the Afghan capital. (AP Photos/Massoud Hossaini) (Associated Press) 
 
 KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — A massive explosion rocked a highly secure diplomatic area of Kabul on Wednesday morning, killing at least nine people and wounding as many as 90, and sending a huge plume of smoke over the Afghan capital. 
 
 The target of the attack — which officials said was a suicide car bombing — was not immediately known but Ismail Kawasi, spokesman of the public health ministry, said most of the casualties were civilians. 
 
 No group immediately claimed responsibility for the blast. Both the Taliban and the Islamic State group have staged large-scale attacks in the Afghan capital in the past. 
 
 The explosion took place at the peak of Kabul's rush hour when roads are packed with worktime commuters. It appeared to have gone off close to a busy intersection in the Wazir Akbar Khan district but Najib Danish, deputy spokesman for the Interior Ministry, did not have a more precise location. 
 
 The neighborhood is considered Kabul's safest area, with foreign embassies protected by dozens of 10-foot-high blast walls and government offices, guarded by police and national security forces. The German Embassy, the Foreign Ministry and the Presidential Palace are all in the area, as are the British and the Canadian embassies. The Chinese, Turkish and Iranian embassies are also located there. 
 
 The Foreign Ministry in Berlin said it had no immediate information on possible casualties or damage to the German Embassy but was working on trying to get more details from Afghanistan. 
 
 The blast was so heavy that more than 30 vehicles were either destroyed or damaged at the site of the attack. "We don't know at this moment what was the target of the attack," said Danish. 
 
 Windows were shattered in shops, restaurants and other buildings up to a kilometer (half mile) from the blast site. 
 
 "There are a large number of casualties, but I don't know, how many people are killed or wounded," said an eyewitness at the site, Gul Rahim. 
 
 Kawasi said the wounded were admitted to different Kabul hospitals. 
 
 Shortly after the explosion, all roads in Wazir Akbar Khan were blocked off by Afghan security forces and helicopters were deployed over the neighborhood. 
 
 Last month, the Afghan Taliban announced the beginning of their spring offensive, promising to build their political base in the country while focusing military assaults on the international coalition and Afghan security forces. 
 
 U.S. and Afghan forces have been battling the Taliban insurgency for more than 15 years. The United States now has more than 8,000 troops in Afghanistan, training local forces and conducting counterterrorism operations. In the past year, they have largely concentrated on thwarting a surge of attacks by the Taliban, who have captured key districts, such as Helmand province, which U.S. and British troops had fought bitterly to return to the government. 
 
 ___ 
 
 Associated Press writer David Rising in Berlin contributed to this report. ||||| Kabul, Afghanistan (CNN) A huge suicide bomb ripped through a secure area of Kabul at the height of the Wednesday morning rush hour, killing at least 90 people and wounding 400, Afghan officials said. 
 
 The blast, which came a few days into the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, was one of the deadliest to hit the capital in recent years. 
 
 The bomb exploded in the diplomatic quarter near the German Embassy and the Afghan presidential palace. The streets were packed with commuters, women shopping and children going to school, and the blast appears likely to result in a high civilian death toll. 
 
 Latest developments 
 
 Busy shopping street 
 
 The bomb, concealed in a water delivery truck, detonated at 8:22 a.m. outside the offices of a major local cellphone company and a popular TV station. It hit about 400 yards from the German Embassy in one of the busiest parts of town, near big supermarkets and shops. 
 
 The Taliban denied responsibility for the attack. No group has yet claimed it. 
 
 Afghanistan's intelligence service, the National Directorate of Security, said in a statement that the Haqqani Network, a Taliban-affiliated group in Pakistan, carried out the bombing. But the Islamist terror group has yet to say anything about the bombing. 
 
 "Our prayers are with the victims and their families of this inhuman and cowardly attack," a tweet from the office of President Ashraf Ghani said. "May Allah strengthen all those working for peace. Our thoughts are with the families of deceased & prayers with the injured." 
 
 The Wall Street Journal reporter Jessica Donati, in Kabul, said the explosion happened close to Western embassies, government institutions and the residences of high-ranking officials. It's the most fortified part of the city, which can be reached only by passing through several checkpoints. 
 
 The BBC said driver Mohammed Nazir, who had worked with the broadcaster for four years and had a young family, died in the blast. Four BBC journalists were injured, but their injuries are not thought to be life threatening, according to a BBC World Service statement. 
 
 At least 11 US citizens assigned to the US embassy as contractors were injured in the blast, according to US officials. 
 
 Photos: A suicide bomb attack targets Kabul's diplomatic zone Afghan security forces patrol the site of a deadly suicide bomb attack in Kabul, Afghanistan, on Wednesday, May 31. The blast struck near the German Embassy, according to Afghan officials. Hide Caption 1 of 14 Photos: A suicide bomb attack targets Kabul's diplomatic zone Hide Caption 2 of 14 Photos: A suicide bomb attack targets Kabul's diplomatic zone A wounded man is helped away from the scene of the attack, which struck in the midst of Kabul's morning rush hour. Hide Caption 3 of 14 Photos: A suicide bomb attack targets Kabul's diplomatic zone Women covered in blood stand dazed in the aftermath of the attack near Kabul's highly secure diplomatic area. Hide Caption 4 of 14 Photos: A suicide bomb attack targets Kabul's diplomatic zone An injured man receives aid following the attack. Hide Caption 5 of 14 Photos: A suicide bomb attack targets Kabul's diplomatic zone Bystanders help evacuate people from the area of the explosion. Hide Caption 6 of 14 Photos: A suicide bomb attack targets Kabul's diplomatic zone Security forces gather near the site of the attack. Hide Caption 7 of 14 Photos: A suicide bomb attack targets Kabul's diplomatic zone People help an injured man following the attack. Hide Caption 8 of 14 Photos: A suicide bomb attack targets Kabul's diplomatic zone Victims' bodies are placed in the back of a police truck at a hospital in Kabul. Hide Caption 9 of 14 Photos: A suicide bomb attack targets Kabul's diplomatic zone Office workers leave the site of the suicide attack. German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel said the attack was "aimed at civilians and those who are in Afghanistan to work with the people there for a better future of the country." Hide Caption 10 of 14 Photos: A suicide bomb attack targets Kabul's diplomatic zone German and Afghan authorities inspect the scene of the blast. German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel said the attack was in the "immediate vicinity" of the nation's embassy. "In the attack, officials of the German Embassy were also injured. In the meantime, all employees are safe," Gabriel said. Hide Caption 11 of 14 Photos: A suicide bomb attack targets Kabul's diplomatic zone Volunteers carry the body of a victim to the Wazir Akbar Khan Hospital in Kabul. Hide Caption 12 of 14 Photos: A suicide bomb attack targets Kabul's diplomatic zone A mangled vehicle is lifted out of the wreckage after the explosion. Hide Caption 13 of 14 Photos: A suicide bomb attack targets Kabul's diplomatic zone A man wounded in the car bomb attack is treated at a hospital in Kabul. Hide Caption 14 of 14 
 
 German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel said the bombing was in the "immediate vicinity" of its embassy. 
 
 "The attack was aimed at civilians and those who are in Afghanistan to work with the people there for a better future of the country," Gabriel said. He said embassy officials had been injured but that "all employees are safe." An Afghan security officer protecting the embassy area was killed, he said. 
 
 German Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Adebahr said the embassy would remain closed until further notice and that local staff were receiving medical care. 
 
 The Afghan presidential palace and the Indian Embassy are near the blast site. "By God's grace, Indian Embassy staff are safe in the massive Kabul blast," Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj tweeted. 
 
 A wounded Afghan man receives help at the site of the attack in Kabul. 
 
 The French Embassy was damaged in the explosion, Marielle de Sarnez, French minister for European Affairs, told Europe 1 radio. Initial reports do not indicate that French nationals are among the dead, she said, adding that she is "extremely cautious" until that has been confirmed. 
 
 Canada said none of its embassy employees were injured despite significant damage to the first floor of the building. 
 
 Hundreds line up to donate blood 
 
 The attack seriously damaged the offices of broadcaster 1TV Afghanistan, blowing off windows and doors. It was left in such bad shape, "you would have thought the explosion happened inside the office," said station owner Fahim Hashimy. 
 
 He said the station's creative director, Sohail Sediqi -- who Hashimy said was known in the office for his fear of such attacks -- had gone down to the blast site to try to get footage on air right after the bomb went off, despite a forehead wound. 
 
 "This gave me a very big hope, to be honest. It showed me that we won't give up," Hashimy said. 
 
 Layma Tabibi, an Afghan-American who works at a local consulting firm, heard the blast and told CNN a lot of casualties appeared to be from the Roshan telecommunications company. 
 
 "Afghans. It's always Afghans," she said, when asked who suffered in such attacks. "It's always Afghans that are harmed and get killed, rather than who the attacker wants to target." 
 
 Roshan mobile company employees leave the site of the attack in Kabul on Wednesday. 
 
 Many phone lines were down but people were trying to help, she said. 
 
 "The people are full of hope and love. It may not always seem like that but already there are hundreds of names and people waiting in lines and waiting to be put on a waiting list to donate blood and help anyone who is in need or stranded without help." 
 
 Hameed Hakim, who works for a French nonprofit group, was on his way to work in Kabul's Wazir Akbar Khan neighborhood when the noise of the blast stopped him in his tracks. 
 
 "It was so crazy. The sound was very strong and the ground shook. Everyone around me was shocked. All of the buildings and offices were broken, the windows were blown out," he said. "It was rush hour, most of the people were going to their offices or going to the shops. There were large crowds of people going about their days." 
 
 Frantic relatives search for news 
 
 Josh Smith, a correspondent for Reuters news agency in Kabul, headed to a major city hospital just a few blocks away from the blast site. 
 
 "I saw a steady stream of ambulances that had been carrying wounded begin arriving with bodies, many of which were burned or maimed beyond recognition," he said. 
 
 "Frantic relatives were mobbing casualty lists and the arriving ambulances looking for news. Several of the wounded who were able to talk to me described utter destruction and chaos after the blast. All over streets blocks away people were cleaning up broken glass." 
 
 Emergency workers were still pulling bodies from under the rubble and several buildings had collapsed. 
 
 "I heard a very loud bang and then I don't remember what happened next," said survivor Wasim Shah, 40, from a hospital bed, his head bandaged. "The waves of the explosion were so powerful that you can see a lot of people in the hospital wounded by shattered windows and collapsed walls." 
 
 Attack 'sign of weakness' 
 
 Capt. Bill Salvin, a US military spokesman in Kabul, told CNN that a checkpoint had prevented the truck getting closer into the diplomatic quarter. 
 
 Security forces stand near the site of the bombing on Wednesday. 
 
 "Today's attack is a very dramatic example of what terrorists can do when they are determined to cause death and suffering among innocent civilians," he said. "But the security situation is being stabilized by the ever-growing capability of the Afghan police force and the Afghan National Army." 
 
 Operation Resolute Support, the NATO-led international mission to support Afghan forces, is focused this year on building Afghan forces' offensive capability on the battlefield, Salvin added. 
 
 US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson condemned the "senseless and cowardly act," and pledged continued US support to the Afghan government. President Donald Trump called Ghani to express his condolences, the White House said. 
 
 Secretary Tillerson: The United States strongly condemns today's deadly attack in #Kabul. 
 
 Full statement: https://t.co/tmZuRyJ1fs pic.twitter.com/7KlYQGWEBk — Department of State (@StateDept) May 31, 2017 
 
 Deteriorating security across Afghanistan 
 
 The latest attack highlights the deteriorating security situation across Afghanistan. 
 
 Earlier this month , another attack targeted foreign troops near the US Embassy in Kabul, killing eight people. ISIS claimed responsibility for that attack. 
 
 The Pentagon might send more troops to the country, US military officials told the Senate Armed Services Committee this month. 
 
 The troops could consist of special forces personnel and other service members, and would be part of the NATO-led mission. 
 
 There are about 8,400 US troops in Afghanistan -- the majority are involved in training and advising Afghan troops. About 2,000 US service members participate in counterterrorism missions. 
 
 This story has been updated to correct the spelling of Fahim Hashimy's name.
– A massive explosion rocked a highly secure diplomatic area of Kabul on Wednesday morning, killing at least 80 people, wounding hundreds more, and sending a huge plume of smoke over the Afghan capital. The target of the attack—which officials said was a suicide car bombing—was not immediately known but a public health ministry spokesman says most of the casualties are civilians and casualty figures are likely to rise, the AP reports. No group immediately claimed responsibility for the blast. Both the Taliban and ISIS have staged large-scale attacks in the Afghan capital in the past. The explosion in the Wazir Akbar Khan district took place at the peak of Kabul's rush hour, when roads are packed with commuters. The neighborhood is considered Kabul's safest area, with foreign embassies protected by dozens of 10-foot-high blast walls and government offices, guarded by police and national security forces. CNN reports that the explosion hit near the German embassy. The blast was so heavy that more than 30 vehicles were either destroyed or damaged at the site of the attack and windows were shattered up to half a mile away. Last month, the Afghan Taliban announced the beginning of their spring offensive, promising to build their political base in the country while focusing military assaults on the international coalition and Afghan security forces.