40 Killed, 140 Injured As Bomb Hidden In Ambulance Goes Off Near Embassies In Kabul

"I heard a big bang and I fainted," he said, outside the Emergency hospital.

"There were dozens of people who were killed and wounded. There were pools of blood."

The explosion happened in a busy part of the city where the High Peace Council, which is charged with negotiating with the Taliban, has offices.

"It targeted our checkpoint. It was really huge -- all our windows are broken," Hassina Safi, a member of High Peace Council, told AFP.

"So far we don't have any reports if any of our members are wounded or killed."

Members of the European Union's delegation in Kabul were in their "safe room" and there were no casualties, an official told AFP.

The explosion comes exactly a week after Taliban terrorists stormed a luxury hotel in Kabul, killing at least 22 people, the majority foreigners.

COMMENTSA security alert issued to foreigners on Saturday morning had warned that the Islamic State group, which has terrorised the city in recent months, was planning "to conduct aggressive attacks" on supermarkets, shops and hotels frequented by foreigners.