Fire broke in the headquarters of Tajikistan's Security Ministry today hours after a powerful blast rocked the centre of the capital Dushanbe, Reuters reported.
"I can see palls of smoke rising from the Security Ministry, there is one armoured personnel carrier in the street," said one reporter. "The building is being guarded by scores of police."
Earlier a powerful blast went off in the centre of the Tajik capital in what appeared to be a car bomb placed near the central Asian state's Emergencies Ministry, witnesses and officials said.
A Reuters reporter saw car parts scattered in the area and the head of a man lying nearby.
Four people who were going past in a taxi when the blast occured suffered concussion, police said.
The country, which lost more than 100,000 people in a 1992-97 civil war, has been relatively stable although kidnappings continue and crime is rampant.