International peacekeepers in Afghanistan said today they had tightened security in the capital after a car bomb exploded in a busy Kabul street.
Commander Simon Ryan, spokesman for the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), said the official Afghan death toll from yesterday's explosion in the centre of the capital was 26, with 150 people injured.
Police had earlier said that 15 were dead and around 20 injured.
The ISAF has implemented a "series of procedures" to try to reduce the risk of a repeat attack. "This new development in terrorist activities is of great concern to the security forces of the transitional authority," he said.
There are nearly 5,000 ISAF peacekeepers in Kabul from 20 nations to help provide security and stability after the fall of the Taliban last year.
Just hours after the car bomb went off in a crowded street in central Kabul, a gunman tried to assassinate President Hamid Karzai in the southern city of Kandahar, hitting his car and injuring the city governor.
Two bullets were fired at Mr Karzai's car by a uniformed man just as the president was leaving the house of city governor Mr Gul Agha Sherzai.
Mr Karzai is protected by US special forces bodyguards, who killed at least one attacker. The president has now returned to Kabul.
Afghan authorities have blamed car bomb and the assassination attempt on international terrorist groups with links to the al-Qaeda network.