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KABUL, April 19 (Xinhua) -- Death toll has risen to 28 while 327 others wounded in Kabul deadly bombing, officials said on Tuesday.

Afghan security force members inspect the site of a deadly attack in Kabul, capital of Afghanistan, on April 19, 2016. Death toll has risen to 28 while 327 others wounded in Kabul deadly bombing, officials said on Tuesday. (Xinhua/Rahmat Alizadah)

"The latest information says that 28 people were killed by Tuesday's terrorist attack in Kabul," Kabul Police Chief Abdul Rahman Rahimi told reporters near the site.

The powerful suicide car bombing and ensuing gun firing took place at 08:50 a.m. local time (04:20 GMT) in Pul-e-Mahmood Khan locality next to Presidential Palace and Defense Ministry compound.

"The obvious target of the attack was a compound jointly running by a sub office of National Directorate of Security (NDS) or intelligence agency and Government VIP Protection Directorate of Presidential Palace," a security source told Xinhua anonymously.

The building is in the area where a big mosque, Kabul sport stadium and several government office buildings are located, he said.

"As of 12:30 p.m. Tuesday, seven killed and 327 injured were admitted to Public Health Ministry hospitals," the ministry said in a statement, adding that the number of casualties may further go up.

The blast also destroyed several buildings around the site. It shattered windows of dozens of buildings and smashed the glasses of the buildings at the nearby business district.

Dozens of the injured who sustained injuries by shrapnel and flying glasses remained in critical conditions, according to the health officials.

The Taliban militant group has claimed responsibility for the blast shortly after the attack.

Afghan President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani and Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah strongly condemned the attack.