Spanish policeman killed in Kabul attack: PM

A Spanish policeman at the Spanish embassy in the Afghan capital of Kabul died in a Taliban suicide car bomb attack on Friday evening, Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy said.

Rajoy said this at an electoral rally in the southeastern city of Alicante.

Isidro Gabino San Martin, a 48-year-old father of four, had suffered injuries and then died as a result of the blast, a statement from the Interior Ministry said.

The blast that struck a diplomatic district in central Kabul is the latest high-profile insurgent attack. It has also killed two members of the Afghan security forces guarding the Spanish embassy and injured several others.

A car bomb was detonated by a terrorist near the gate of a guesthouse near the Spanish embassy at around 05:40 p.m. local time (1310 GMT) in Shairpoor locality. The blast was followed by several warning shots of gunfire, a security source told Xinhua.

Authorities have launched an investigation into the incident and details will be released afterwards, the source added.

A spokesman for the Spanish Foreign Ministry had said there was an explosion in the embassy, but Rajoy said later that the attack was not directed at the embassy itself but at the guesthouse.

Four Spanish embassy workers were still waiting to be evacuated from the complex at the end of the day, according to the Spanish Foreign Ministry.

Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Garcia Margallo told a TV program that Spanish troops and embassies abroad were "protected by the maximum security." Endi