Debris seen at the office of Afghan news agency in Kabul 

KABUL: At least 40 people were killed and many others wounded in multiple blasts at a cultural centre in Kabul on Thursday, officials said, in the latest violence to hit the Afghan capital.

"The target of the attack was the Tabayan cultural centre. A ceremony was being held to mark the 38th anniversary of Soviet-invasion in Afghanistan when the explosion went off," deputy interior ministry spokesman Nasrat Rahimi told AFP.

The centre is near to the Afghan Voice Agency, a media outlet which earlier reports had suggested could be the target.

A hospital official told local TV that 18 wounded had been brought to his facility, including five in a critical condition.

Photos posted on Afghan Voice Agency´s Facebook page showed the inside of a compound with debris and bodies lying on the ground. 

Backed by the heaviest US air strikes since the height of the international combat mission in Afghanistan, Afghan forces have forced the Taliban back in many areas and prevented any major urban centre from falling into the hands of insurgents.

But high-profile attacks in the big cities have continued as militants have looked for other ways to make an impact and undermine confidence in security.

According to a report this month by media freedom group Reporters without Borders, Afghanistan is among the world´s most dangerous countries for media workers with two journalists and five media assistants killed doing their jobs in 2017, before Thursday´s attack.