Five killed in Kabul airport attack

Kabul: At least five people were killed and 16 others injured on Monday when a suicide bomber attacked a checkpoint near the entrance to Kabul's international airport, the media reported.

The suicide bomber detonated the explosive near the main entrance gate of Hamid Karzai International Airport, state-run Khaama Press reported.

The casualties, which included a woman and a child, were confirmed by the interior ministry.

According to Tolo News, Taliban has claimed responsibility for the attack and confirmed their target was a convoy of armoured vehicles apparently transporting government officials.

The incident is the latest in a series of recent deadly attacks in Kabul.

A suicide bomber blew himself up near the city's police academy on Friday evening, killing at least 20 recruits.

A short while later, gunmen launched an attack on a NATO base that houses US special forces near the airport. Eleven people, including an American soldier and eight contractors, were killed in the attack.

Earlier on Friday, a truck carrying explosives was detonated near an army base in the Shah Shahid area, claiming 15 lives.

The Taliban only claimed responsibility for the police academy attack.

Over the weekend, an upsurge in violence in the country, especially in capital Kabul, has claimed the lives of at least 400 people.

The UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) said that Friday saw "the largest number of civilians killed and wounded in one day" since the count of victims began in 2009, with 42 civilians dead and 313 wounded in Kabul alone.

UNAMA condemned the series of attacks that began at dawn on Friday, the first since Taliban leader Mullah Omar died and the new insurgent chief, Akhtar Mansour, was named in a contest of internal rivalry over the succession.