Death toll rises after Taliban attack in Kabul

(CNN)The death toll from an explosion in the Afghan capital rose to 64 people Wednesday, authorities said, a day after militants targeted civilians in Kabul.

The blast rocked Kabul on Tuesday morning -- the apparent work of Taliban militants targeting a security team that protects government VIPs, a police official said.

In addition to the deaths, more than 300 people were wounded, Interior Ministry spokesman Sediq Sediqi said

Despite the target, most of the victims were civilians -- including women and children, according to Sediqi.

A suicide bomber detonated a vehicle filled with explosives in a private parking lot behind the compound, destroying the back wall of a building, according to Sediqi.

A second attacker then entered the building. That attacker died in a gun battle with security forces less than two hours later, Sediqi said.

The Afghan Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack.

"First a suicide bomber blew up his explosives-laden lorry on the gate of the department and then other armed attackers went in and started shooting on the rest of the enemies," the statement said.

Witnesses said they continued to hear gunfire after the explosion, which occurred in a busy part of Kabul near the Afghan Defense Ministry and presidential palace.

Afghan journalist Esmatullah Kohsar tweeted photos of what he said were windows at his office shattered by the blast. He said he could hear gunfire following the explosion.

Afghan women's rights activist Wazhma Frogh said on Twitter she was arriving at work near the site of the attack when the blast happened.

"There are schools in the explosion area," she tweeted. "Parents running to the doors to take their children. Sad day in Kabul."

The attack comes a week after the Taliban declared the start of a spring offensive, designed to "employ all means at our disposal to bog the enemy down in a war of attrition that lowers the morale of the foreign invaders and their internal armed militias."

The commander of NATO forces in Afghanistan, Gen. John W. Nicholson, said such attacks are a sign of Taliban weakness.

"Today's attack shows the insurgents are unable to meet Afghan forces on the battlefield and must resort to these terrorist attacks," he said.

Afghan President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani condemned the attack and said in a tweet it "clearly shows the enemy's defeat in face-to-face battle" with government forces.

A record number of civilians died or were wounded in hostilities in Afghanistan last year, the United Nations said in February. More than 3,500 civilians died and nearly 7,500 were wounded in 2015, it said.

An additional 5,500 Afghan security force members died last year, according to U.S. estimates.

The U.N. Security Council condemned the attack and said it remained concerned by threats posed by the Taliban, ISIS and al Qaeda.

Anger as Afghan troops pull out of parts of Helmand province

Kabul (CNN)Afghan troops have pulled out of parts of Helmand province, the site of some of the fiercest fighting in the long battle against Taliban forces, according to an Afghan government spokesman.

A senior military official said troops withdrew from the districts of Nawzad and Musa Qala over the weekend in what he called a "tactical" move that could be reversed any time.

Omar Zwak, spokesman for Helmand governor Mirza Khan Rahimi, told CNN Monday that it would help Afghan troops in other areas.

Helmand province is where thousands of British and U.S. troops fought against the resurgent Taliban before their official withdrawal at the end of 2014.

Criticism from local leader

The decision to pull out of key districts has angered the head of the local provincial council. Mohammad Karim Atal told CNN the move was wrong, irresponsible and would lead to further losses in surrounding districts.

"Afghan soldiers had paid a heavy price and had recaptured some of the areas in those districts by shedding their blood only few months back, but now because of mismanagement, lack of coordination and weak leadership they left them to the hands of the enemies," Atal said.

He added that by pulling out they have not only lost Nawzad and Musa Qala, but have brought three other neighboring districts -- including Washir, Kajaki and Sangin -- to the brink of collapse.

Last December, the Taliban managed to take over the key district of Sangin for a short period of time.

According to Stuart Gordon, a Helmand expert at the Chatham House think tank, Sangin holds special significance to the British as more than 100 British troops had been killed there.

"Sangin became fairly totemic for the British because of the number of soldiers lost," he told the Press Association in December.

British support for Afghan military

On Monday, a British government spokesman noted the "important role" UK troops played in training Afghan security forces and creating "the conditions for a more viable state."

"There's no doubt the Afghan security forces have faced a challenging year but they've shown the resolve to continue the fight and we are committed to supporting them in their path towards a secure future," the spokesman said.

"Our non-combat contribution towards developing the next generation of Afghan army officers continues, as does our advising and assisting role in Kabul and in the short term via the small non-combat advisory team in Camp Shorabak in Helmand," he added, referring to the Afghan airbase formerly known as Camp Bastion in Lashkar Gar.