BRAKING NEWS : DEADLY ATTACK ON AFGHAN SHIA A 'CRIME AGAINST HUMANITY'

Afghan policemen watch dust blowing along a street in the aftermath of the third blast at a Shiite cultural center in Kabul on December 28, 2017. At least 40 people were killed and dozens more wounded in multiple blasts at a Shiite cultural center in Kabul on December 28, officials said, in the latest deadly violence to hit the Afghan capital.

At least 40 number of people have been killed and dozens wounded in a blast in Kabul at a compound comprising a news agency, Shia cultural centre and religious school, the interior ministry has said.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility but the Taliban was quick to deny involvement in the assault near the Afghan Voice Agency, a media outlet which earlier reports had suggested could have been the target.

The explosion early on Thursday struck an area close to the Afghan Voice news agency and Tebyan cultural centre, local media reported.

People gathered at Tebyan were marking the 38th anniversary of the Soviet invasion in Afghanistan.

The main explosion was followed by two smaller bomb blasts that did not cause casualties, he said, adding that the gathering was being held to mark the 38th anniversary of Soviet invasion in Afghanistan.

There were chaotic scenes at the Istiqlal hospital where ambulances brought victims, including women and children. Many of them were suffering severe burns to their faces and bodies, as well as shrapnel wounds.

Anguished relatives searching for their loved ones inside the medical facility, slapping their heads in fury as they cried and cursed the government for seemingly being unable to end the regular carnage on their streets. Some were so distraught they crawled on the ground pulling their hair.

"A suicide bomber detonated explosives near a cultural house belonging to Shia Afghans,". "People in critical condition are being taken to hospital where there are chaotic scenes."Afghans are rushing to hospitals to donate blood."

Ashraf Ghani, the Afghan president, called the attack a "crime against humanity".

In a statement, he said: "The terrorists have attacked our mosques, our holy places and now our cultural centre."

Mushtaq Rahim, a regional security expert, told from Kabul that there were several members of the Afghan Shia community in the area.

"They [Afghan Shia] have been targeted in Afghanistan throughout 2017," he said.

The fact a media outlet was among the targets was also important, Rahim said, because whichever group was behind the assault was seeking more coverage.

Kabul has become one of the deadliest places in war-torn Afghanistan for civilians in recent months, as the Taliban step up their attacks and the Islamic State group (IS) seeks to expand its presence in the country.

Thursday's assault comes days after a suicide bomber killed six civilians in an attack near an Afghan intelligence agency compound in the city, which was claimed by IS.

The Middle Eastern jihadist group has gained ground in Afghanistan since it first appeared in the region in 2015 and has scaled up its attacks in Kabul, including on security installations and the country's Shiite minority.

A man attending the anniversary ceremony at Tabayan said he heard a ‘big boom’.

‘We do not know the numbers (of casualties). When the explosion happened we immediately fled,’ he told Tolo News.

Mohammad Hasan Rezayee, a university student also at the ceremony, told Tolo News he had suffered burns to his face in the blast.

‘We were inside the hall in the second row when an explosion from behind took place. I did not see the bomber who detonated himself,’ he said from his hospital bed.

‘After the blast there was fire and smoke inside the building and everyone was pleading for help,’ he said.

Security in Kabul has been ramped up since May 31 when a massive truck bomb ripped through the diplomatic quarter, killing some 150 people and wounding around 400 others -- mostly civilians. No group has yet claimed that attack.

Religious attacks in Afghanistan have skyrocketed in the past two years with the minority Shiite community the main target, the United Nations said in November.

IS, a Sunni extremist group, has claimed most of the attacks on Shiite worshippers as it seeks to stir up sectarian violence in the country.

Afghan media has also previously been targeted by militants, underlying the risks faced by journalists in the war-torn country.