Interior Ministry spokesman Tariq Arian says that the attacker was trying to enter the centre when he was stopped by security guards.

Danish Habibi was just a child in 2000 when the Taliban overran his village in Afghanistan's serene Bamiyan Valley. His memories of those days are reoccurring nightmares.

Interior Ministry spokesman Tariq Aran said the car bombing struck near the entrance of the provincial police chief's office and other nearby government buildings in the area.

Col. Sonny Leggett said the recent Taliban attacks in Helmand province are ``not consistent'' with a U.S.-Taliban deal signed in February.

Reid McKnight is a Canadian Armed Forces reserve soldier with the Rocky Mountain Rangers and was previously deployed to Afghanistan.

The Afghan Taliban on Thursday welcomed a tweet from U.S. President Donald Trump in which he promised to have the last of U.S. troops out of Afghanistan by Christmas.

Trump's comment came just hours after his national security adviser said Washington would reduce its forces in Afghanistan to 2,500 by early next year.

The Afghan Defence Ministry, however, said the airstrikes killed 30 Taliban fighters, but added an investigation was being made into claims that civilians were among those killed.

Historic negotiations between the Taliban and Afghanistan's political leadership opened in Qatar on Saturday, offering the best chance of peace after decades of war.

Pompeo made his comments en route to the Middle Eastern State of Qatar, where intra-Afghan negotiations are to begin Saturday.