KABUL - Eighteen people were killed and more than thirty other wounded in a suicide bomb attack at an educational centre in Kabul Saturday.

A health ministry spokesman Saeed Jami said the blast was caused by a suicide bombing, and the target was the Kawsar-e Danish educational centre. 

The explosion at the private facility, which offers courses for students in higher education, occurred late in the afternoon, the interior ministry said. The building in the Dasht-e-Barchi area usually hosts hundreds of students.

Many have been taken to hospital. There are fears the death toll may rise. "A suicide bomber wanted to enter the education centre," interior ministry spokesman Tareq Arain said in a statement. The spokesman added that the attacker was identified by security guards "after which he detonated his explosives in an alley." It was not clear who was behind the attack. A spokesman for Taliban insurgents denied responsibility for the attack.