Asadullah Khalid, Afghan spy chief, wounded in suicide bombing

Afghanistan's intelligence chief Asadullah Khalid, head of the National Directorate of Security, was wounded in a suicide bombing at a private guesthouse in Kabul on Thursday, according to the Washington Post. 

Anonymous interior ministry officials told the BBC Khalid suffered head wounds and injuries to his lower body. Presidential spokesman Aimal Faizi told the AFP Khalid was taken into surgery, but was not in critical condition.

President Hamid Karzai was seen at the hospital. A presidential spokesman said doctors had "assured the president that he is stable and his injury is not life threatening," the spokesman said, according to the AFP. 

The National Directorate of Security, which is kind of like the FBI, issued at statement, saying, “The director general survived a cowardly terrorist attack.”

The Taliban representative Zabihullah Mujahid claimed responsibility for the attack.

"Asadullah Khalid was the main target," Mujahid said in a statement. "A number of spies have been killed and wounded."

Mujahid told the AFP via email: "As a result of a suicide attack carried out by hero mujahedeen Hafiz Mohammad inside a guest house, a large number of intelligence officials were injured."

The BBC spoke to anonymous officials who pointed out the attack echoes a September 2011 suicide bombing that killed the chairman of the Afghan High Peace Council, Burhanuddin Rabbani.