KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) - The Latest on bombing in Afghanistan capital and other violence (all times local):
11:30 a.m.
An Afghan official says at least 18 soldiers have been killed after their checkpoint came under attack by Taliban insurgents in western Farah province.
Dawlat Waziri, spokesman for the Afghan Defense Ministry, said two other soldiers were wounded in the attack which took place in Bala Buluk district of Farah province.
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11:25 a.m.
An Afghan Interior Ministry official says two security personnel have been killed in a suicide bombing attack in the capital Kabul.
Najib Danish says the death toll in the capital Kabul could rise.
He says two security personals were killed in the attack which took place in the diplomatic area of Shash Darak and seven others were wounded.
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11:15 a.m.
The Islamic State group has claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing attack in Afghanistan's capital Kabul.
In a statement posted on its news agency Aamaq on Saturday IS said the attack was carried out by a bomber with an explosive vest and targeted the gate of the headquarters of the Afghan intelligence service in central Kabul.
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10:25 a.m.
An Afghan official says at least three security personnel have been killed in separate suicide bombing attacks in southern Helmand province.
Omar Zwak, spokesman for the provincial governor in Helmand, said a car bomber early Saturday was shot by Afghan army soldiers but his vehicle managed to reach the entrance of the army base in Nad Aali district, killing two soldiers and wounding another.
In a second suicide bomb attack near another military base in Helmand's capital city Lashkar Gah, one security person was killed and seven civilians wounded, Zwak said.
Qari Yusouf Ahmadi, a Taliban spokesman, claimed responsibility for both suicide attacks in Helmand province.
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8:50 a.m.
An explosion has occurred in a diplomatic area of Afghanistan's capital.
Interior ministry spokesman Najib Danish confirmed the explosion in Kabul on Saturday morning.
It was in the Shash Darak area near the headquarters of NATO and not far from the U.S. Embassy.
Further details were not immediately available.
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