Analysis of a suicide bomb blast: Pictures reveal in horrific detail aftermath of attack that claimed four lives at U.S. Afghanistan base

Bloodstains and body parts left strewn across the rubble in Kabul

Bombers targeted U.S. base in heart of capital's diplomatic district



Remains of apparatus, including part of a suicide vest, are recovered

Four died and five civilians were injured in the attack



Security forces picked through the scene of a devastating blast in Afghanistan today after two suicide bombers managed to set off a bomb in Kabul's diplomatic district.

Bloodstains and body parts were left strewn across the rubble after two guards were killed and five civilians were injured in the blast. The two suicide bombers also died.

Armed guards stationed near the target, a U.S. base, had spotted the two men making their way on foot to the compound and opened fire immediately . But it was already too late.

The militants detonated their suicide vests and an explosion ripped through a wall at the base. Remains of their apparatus, including ammunition and part of a vest were recovered from the scene.

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WARNING - GRAPHIC CONTENT

Scorch marks: The wall surrounding a U.S. military base in Kabul is left wrecked after a suicide bomber blew himself up. Today, U.S. forces and Afghan security officials began the task of piecing together what happened



His equipment: Ammunition including a grenade launcher, a gun and part of the exploded vest of a suicide attacker. Police in Kabul said they were on foot and were spotted by Afghan security guards as they approached Camp Eggers

The blast reverberated around Kabul's Wazir Akbar Khan neighbourhood shortly after 8am local time. An alarm started going off at the nearby U.S. embassy, warning staff to take cover.

The neighbourhood is also home to many high-ranking Afghan officials, international organisations and the headquarters of the international military coalition.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the bombing in an email to reporters.

The attack came as foreign and Afghan forces tightened security around the capital ahead of the holy day of Ashoura on Saturday, when Shiite Muslims commemorate the seventh century death of Imam Hussein, the Prophet Mohammed's grandson.

Searching for clues: The devastating impact of the blast in Kabul that ripped through a wall is seen as a body is attended to by Afghan security forces

The aftermath: Survivors pour over the wreckage after a devastating suicide attack in Kabul. Cropped out of this picture are body parts strewn across the scene



Devastation: Nato soldiers inspect a wall blown clean through on the edge of the blast area in Kabul. Guards saw the suicide bombers but could not stop them Gruesome: Afghan security men stand over the body of one of the suicide bombers who died in the attack



Last year, the commemoration saw the first major sectarian attack since the fall of the Taliban regime.

In that strike, a suicide bomber on foot detonated his vest amid scores of worshippers at a Shiite shrine, killing 56 people and wounding more than 160 others.

Today's bombers were on foot and were spotted by Afghan security guards as they approached Camp Eggers, the Kabul police chief's office said.

High security: The Taliban shortly after claimed responsibility for the suicide attack in the Afghan capital, saying its fighters had targeted a U.S. intelligence office

Picking through the remains: Body parts are strewn across the scene as Afghan and Nato soldiers examine the aftermath

The police fired on the attackers and they detonated their vests. Two Afghan security guards were killed and five civilians were injured in the explosion.

Video of the scene shows what looks like an undetonated suicide vest, suggesting not all the explosives went off.

An international coalition vehicle was also damaged in the attack but there were no initial reports of casualties among the foreign forces, said Jamie Graybeal, a Nato troops spokesman.

Bloodstains are seen on the ground as investigators, in the background, try to piece together what happened Investigation: Pools of blood were left after the blast which reverberated around Kabul's Wazir Akbar Khan neighbourhood shortly after 8am local time

Police had already set up extra checkpoints around Kabul and specifically near shrines to search cars and people in the run-up to the Ashoura.

'All our police units are in the first security alert position,' General Mohammad Daoud Amin, the city's deputy police chief, said yesterday.

'We are at the service of the people and doing our best to provide good security and prevent any possible incident on Ashoura.'

VIDEO: Investigators on the scene searching for clues...

Afghan Army soldiers drag away a private security guard from the scene of a suicide bomb blast

Wrecked: A man left bloodstained and charred by the blast lays at the scene as an official attends to his body