Suicide bomb blast at Kabul airport following Afghan Vice President Abdul Rashid Dostum's arrival kills 14

The suicide bomber was on foot, interior ministry spokesman Najib Danish said, adding that civilians, including a child, and security force members were among the casualties.

A suicide bomber carried out an attack near the Kabul airport Sunday, killing 14 people and narrowly missing Afghanistan's vice president, who was returning home after living in Turkey for over a year. (Photo | AP) 

The blast occurred near Kabul International Airport shortly after the convoy of the controversial vice president had just left the airport, Interior Ministry spokesman Najib Danish said. Gen. Abdul Rashid Dostum, a former Uzbek warlord, and his entourage were unharmed, said Danish. (Photo | AP)

The suicide bomber was on foot, interior ministry spokesman Najib Danish said, adding that civilians, including a child, and security force members were among the casualties. (Photo | AP)

He added that the suicide bomber was identified by police but he detonated his explosive vest before he could be safely apprehended. (Photo | AP)

'This is the first time I have seen a suicide attack,' one witness was reported as saying. 'People were collecting human flesh with their hands,' he said, shaking as he spoke. 'What is going on in Afghanistan?' (Photo | AP)

Observers say President Ashraf Ghani, an ethnic Pashtun, gave the green light for Dostum to come home to stabilise the north and secure Uzbek support before next year's presidential election, which he is widely expected to contest. (Photo | AP)

Dostum is one of several controversial figures whom Kabul has sought to reintegrate into mainstream politics since the US-led invasion in 2001. He left Afghanistan in May 2017 after he was accused of organising the rape and torture of a political rival - a claiam that he denies. (Photo | AP)

Ghani in 2009 described Dostum as a 'known killer', yet he chose him as his running mate in the 2014 presidential election, underlining the sometimes uncomfortable ethnic realities of Afghan politics. (Photo | AP)

Dostum, who helped the United States oust the Taliban regime in 2001, allegedly allowed hundreds of Taliban prisoners to be suffocated in shipping containers. (Photo | AP)