The Taliban claimed responsibility on Wednesday for a car bomb attack on the residence of Afghanistan's acting defense minister, while a blast near the office of the main security agency in Kabul just hours later wounded three people.

"Last night a martyrdom attack was carried out on the defense minister's residence," Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said in a statement, adding that more "retaliatory operations" against top government officials were being planned.

An explosion near a facility of Afghanistan's main security agency in the capital, Kabul, on Wednesday wounded two civilians and a security official, police said.

The blast near a National Directorate of Security compound came hours after the car bomb and clashes near Kabul's diplomatic district, in which eight people including four attackers were killed.

(With input from Reuters, AFP)