Journalists targeted in Kabul attack

Twin blasts in the Afghan capital Kabul killed at least 26 people on Monday, including nine journalists who had arrived to report on the first explosion and who were apparently targeted by a suicide bomber.

The first bomber arrived on a motorcycle. Then, as journalists rushed to the scene, a second bomber detonated his device.

''Peaceful days are rare in the capital of Afghanistan,'' says Euronews' correspondent in Kabul, Massoud Imani. ''Today, two suicide bombers targeted a security institution and a group of reporters in the Shash Darak district of Kabul . Dozens were killed and wounded.''

The attack has devastated the tight-knit journalist community in Kabul.

The chief photographer for Agence France-Presse in Kabul, Shah Marai, was among the victims.

The self-styled Islamic State said it carried out the attacks.

But many blame Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah and President Ashraf Ghani for the lack of security.

The Afghan government has repeatedly pledged to increase security, but hundreds of people have been killed and wounded since the beginning of the year.

One journalist described how he was caught up in the blast.

''I was on my way to the scene, I was on the phone with my colleague asking him about casualties. He was saying you have to come yourself to see, and suddenly I heard the blast and connection was lost. Once I arrived everything was scattered around.''

Afghanistan was already considered one of the most dangerous places in the world for journalists.

But media watchdog Reporters without Borders says this was the deadliest attack targeting reporters since the fall of the Taliban in 2001.