At least 50 children were among nearly 100 people wounded yesterday when the Taliban detonated a powerful car bomb in an area of Kabul housing military and government buildings, officials said.

The rush-hour blast, which sent a plume of smoke into the air and shook buildings nearly two kilometres (1.2 miles) away, was followed by gunmen storming a building and triggering a gun battle with special forces in the Puli Mahmood Khan neighbourhood of the Afghan capital.

The health ministry said at least one person had been killed and 93 wounded. Among them were 50 children, the education ministry said in a statement, adding that most had been hurt by flying glass and were in stable condition. Some social media images purportedly taken at a hospital showed wounded, stunned children in school uniforms, still clutching books as they arrived for treatment.