A suicide bomber on foot blew himself up in Kabul’s Shi’ite area on March 9, killing at least seven people, officials said.

“Seven were martyred and seven were wounded in the explosion,” Interior Ministry spokesman Najib Danish wrote on Facebook.

One police officer was among those killed in the attack, which occurred near a gathering to mark the 23rd anniversary of the death of Abdul Ali Mazari, a prominent former leader of the mainly Shi’ite Hazara ethnic community who was killed by the Taliban.

Kabul police chief Mohammad Daud Amin told Afghan news outlet Tolo News that the bomber detonated his explosive device at a checkpoint “after being identified by police.”

“The bomber failed to get inside to target the gathering,” Amin said.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack.

Afghanistan’s minority Shi’ites, who are mostly Hazaras, have lately been frequently targeted in militant attacks, either by the Taliban or the Islamic State group.

Sunni militants consider the Shi’ites heretics and urge followers to kill them.

The March 9 attack comes a week after a car bomb exploded near a passing Australian Embassy convoy in eastern Kabul, killing at least one child and wounding several other people.

Kabul is one of the deadliest places in Afghanistan for civilians. Since mid-January, militants have stormed a hotel, bombed a crowded commercial street, raided a military compound, and launched a suicide attack during morning rush hour, killing more than 130 people.

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani at an international conference in Kabul last week unveiled a plan to open talks with the Taliban.

In return, Ghani said the militants should officially recognize the Afghan government and constitution.

“The offer of negotiation is on the table,” UN envoy to Afghanistan Tadamichi Yamamoto told a Security Council meeting on March 8.

The United States has also called on the insurgents to consider the offer of peace talks.

Before Ghani’s offer, the Taliban had called for direct talks with Washington.

With reporting by AFP, dpa, AP, and tolonews.com