Seven people were killed Wednesday when a suicide bomber struck a minibus carrying employees of popular Afghan TV channel TOLO, just months after the Taliban declared the network a legitimate “militar

Seven people were killed Wednesday when a suicide bomber struck a minibus carrying employees of popular Afghan TV channel TOLO, just months after the Taliban declared the network a legitimate “military target”.

At least 24 others were wounded in the bombing near the Russian embassy in downtown Kabul, which marks the first major attack on an Afghan media organisation.

No group has so far claimed responsibility for the carnage, the latest in a wave of attacks despite an international push to jump-start Taliban peace talks. “Our office bus taking TOLO staff home came under attack,” an employee at the channel said, req-uesting anonymity.

The bombing left some staff members burning inside the vehicle, another employee said, adding that the bus was mostly filled with behind-the-scenes workers from the channel’s graphics and dubbing departments.

The loud explosion sent a plume of smoke rising in the sky, with ambulances and fire-fighters rushing to the scene which was littered with charred debris.

The attack left seven people dead and 24 others wounded, police officials and the interior ministry said.

“The enemy of peace and Afghan people have martyred my colleagues,” Fawad Aman, a well-known TOLO TV anchor, wrote on his Facebook page.

“Such cowardly attacks will not deter us from exposing the truth.”