KABUL: At least 10 people -- including several women and a child -- were killed and scores more wounded by a series of blasts that rocked the Afghan capital Thursday ahead of the election season.

The three blasts came amid a wider surge in violence in Kabul and around Afghanistan, where nine family members were killed in an eastern province Thursday while driving to a wedding.

The Islamic State group's Afghanistan affiliate claimed responsibility for the first two blasts, while the Taliban claimed the third. US and Afghan security officials, however, blamed the Taliban for all three explosions.

The attacks came just days before the official campaign season for the September 28 presidential election gets underway.

Previous polls have been marred by violence and bloodshed from the Taliban and other insurgent groups who refuse to recognise Afghanistan's fragile democracy.

According to security officials and high-resolution surveillance footage seen by AFP, the first blast came around 8:10 am (0340 GMT) when a suicide bomber targeted a bus as it slowed to turn a corner in an area just east of central Kabul.

Civilians could be seen scrambling to help stricken passengers off the bus and carrying the body of a small child from the vehicle as smoke poured out the rear window. Other bodies could be seen pooling blood onto the road.

About 30 minutes later, a secondary explosion from a device that had been hidden at the scene hit civilians and Afghan security forces as they responded.

A third blast, apparently targeting some sort of convoy, came later on in the morning also in eastern Kabul.

Interior ministry spokesman Nasrat Rahimi said a total of 11 civilians were killed, including five women and a child, and 45 more wounded.

Health ministry spokesman Wahidullah Mayar said the toll was at least 10 dead and 41 wounded.

The attacks come as the US is negotiating for a deal that would see foreign forces pull out of Afghanistan in return for a ceasefire and various Taliban guarantees, including a pledge the country will not become a safe haven for terror groups.

Some observers say the insurgents are increasing attacks to gain greater leverage in the talks.

Despite the claim from IS for the first two blasts, Afghan and US security officials blamed the attack on the Taliban, saying the insurgents had distanced themselves from the bloodshed once they realised how many civilians were killed.

"Over the past month, we have seen increased numbers of civilian casualties. (The Taliban) are not targeting coalition forces, they are injuring innocent Afghans," said Colonel Sonny Leggett, spokesman for US Forces-Afghanistan.

- Family killed -

The Afghan war is taking a brutal toll on civilians even amid this push for peace. According to NATO, the Taliban has caused 1,075 casualties since April 11, the start of this year's fighting season.

"The Taliban are conducting talks while repeating these crimes against humanity," the office of President Ashraf Ghani, who is seeking a second term, said in a statement.

Attaullah Khogyani, spokesman for the eastern province of Nangarhar, said a car carrying a family to a wedding was hit by a roadside bomb Thursday in Khogyani district. Six women and three children were killed, he said.

No group immediately claimed responsibility.

A suicide attack on a wedding in Nangarhar on July 12, reportedly by a child bomber, was claimed by IS, which has a growing footprint in that part of Afghanistan.

US peace envoy Zalmay Khalilzad, who is in Kabul this week, is expected to travel to Qatar's capital Doha in coming days for the new round of talks with the Taliban.

The US has also stepped up its air campaign against the Taliban this year, and all sides claim to have inflicted heavy casualties on each other.

Still, the US and the Taliban insist they are making progress, and the insurgents and a group of Afghans this month made a vague and unbinding pledge to try to reduce civilian deaths to "zero".

But civilians continue to pay a heavy price, with last year the deadliest on record for ordinary Afghans.

According to a UN tally, at least 3,804 civilians died in the war in 2018, including 927 children.

President Donald Trump has said he wants the US to quit Afghanistan as soon as possible.

He provoked outrage this week when he claimed he could easily win the war but did not "want to kill 10 million people" or wipe Afghanistan "off the face of the Earth".—AFP