KABUL, Afghanistan: At least 40 people were killed and many others wounded in multiple blasts at a Shiite cultural centre in Kabul on Thursday, officials said, in the latest violence to hit the Afghan capital.

"The target of the attack was the Tabayan cultural centre. A ceremony was being held to mark the 38th anniversary of Soviet-invasion in Afghanistan when the explosion went off," deputy interior ministry spokesman Nasrat Rahimi told AFP.

The centre is near to the Afghan Voice Agency, a media outlet which earlier reports had suggested could be the target.