At least eight people have been killed and 33 wounded in blast; no claim of responsibility.

At least eight people have been killed after a bomb detonated near university premises in Afghanistan‘s capital on Friday, officials said.

Wahidullah Mayar, the Health Ministry spokesman, wrote on Twitter that another 33 people were wounded in Friday’s explosion.

Reports said the blast took place near Kabul University’s southern entrance.

There has been no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack.

The early morning explosion also set two vehicles ablaze, although it was not clear if the attack was carried out by a suicide bomber or a remotely detonated bomb, according to Kabul police spokesman Ferdous Faramarz.

The university compound also houses several hostels where many students stay over the summer, attending classes and conducting research.

Civilian casualties

The attack comes days after intra-Afghan talks in Doha, Qatar, featuring Afghan leaders and Taliban representatives. Both sides called for the reduction of civilian casualties to “zero” amid the rising death toll in the war-torn country.

The statement released after the conclusion of the July 7-8 talks pledged to guarantee the security of public institutions, such as educational institutions, religious schools, hospitals, markets, water dams and other working locations.

However, several attacks across the country continued during and after the talks, resulting in civilian casualties.

On July 8, Taliban fighters detonated a car bomb near the office of Afghanistan’s main intelligence service, the National Directorate of Security (NDS), killing eight security personnel and six civilians, including a child.

On July 9, an air raid at a village in northern Baghlan province killed a mother and her six children.

Elsewhere on the same day, in Wardak province, two doctors, two patients and a guard were killed in an overnight raid by Afghan security forces on a hospital.