AKIPRESS.COM - Afghan Vice-President Abdul Rashid Dostum has narrowly escaped a suicide bomb attack at Kabul airport as he returned home from more than a year in exile in Turkey over allegations of torturing and abusing a political rival, ABC News reported.

General Dostum, who left Afghanistan last year after heavy pressure from Western donors including the United States, drove away from the airport in a motorcade only minutes before the explosion on Sunday, which police said killed at least 14 people and wounded more than 50.

Najib Danish, a spokesman for the Interior Ministry, said the suicide bomber carried out the attack near Kabul International Airport shortly after the convoy of the country's controversial Vice-President had left the airport.

General Danish said the victims included both civilians and military forces.

The Islamic States group's local affiliate claimed responsibility for the attack on its Amaaq News Agency website.

The incident underlined the increasingly volatile and unstable political climate in Kabul ahead of parliamentary elections in October that are seen as a dry run for more-important presidential elections early next year.