Two people were killed and 11 injured after a suicide bomber detonated explosives near the entrance of the Russian Embassy in Kabul, police said on Monday, adding that the attacker was shot dead by armed guards as he approached the gate.

“The suicide attacker before reaching the target, was recognised and shot by Russian embassy [Taliban] guards … there is no information about casualties yet,” Mawlawi Sabir, the head of the police district where the attack took place, told Reuters.

The Russian Foreign Ministry said that two embassy staff were killed in the blast. It said there were also casualties among Afghan civilians.

“On September 5, at 10:50am Kabul time, in the immediate vicinity of the entrance to the consular section of the Russian Embassy in Kabul, an unknown militant set off an explosive device. As a result of the attack, two employees of the diplomatic mission were killed, and there are also victims among Afghan citizens,” the ministry said in a statement.

“The embassy is in close contact with the Afghan security services, which are investigating.” The identity of the Russian victims was not clear.

Earlier, state-owned news agency RIA reported that a diplomat and an embassy security guard had been wounded in the attack.

Russia is one of the few countries to have maintained an embassy in Kabul after the Taliban took over the country more than a year ago. Although Moscow does not officially recognise the Taliban’s government, they have been in talks with officials over an agreement to supply gasoline and other commodities.