KABUL: A powerful car bomb exploded in the center of Afghanistan's capital on Wednesday, sending clouds of black smoke spiraling over the center of the city in an area near the presidential palace and foreign embassies, police said

Several people were killed and wounded in the blast near the fortified entrance to the German embassy, said Basir Mujahid a spokesman for Kabul police.

At least 67 wounded have been taken to Kabul hospitals following a powerful car bomb explosion in the Afghan capital on Wednesday, a spokesman for the ministry of public health said.

"It was a car bomb near the German embassy, but there are several other important compounds and offices near there too. It is hard to say what the exact target is," Mujahid said.

The explosion shattered windows and blew doors off their hinges in houses hundreds of meters (yards) away.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the blast. A spokesman for Taliban insurgents said he was gathering information.