In this March 9, 2020 file photo, Afghanistan's First Vice-President Amrullah Saleh, center, listens to President Ashraf Ghani (not in frame), delivering a speech at an inauguration ceremony at the presidential palace in Kabul, Afghanistan. (RAHMAT GUL / AP)

KABUL - A roadside bomb in Kabul targeted Afghanistan's First Vice-President Amrullah Saleh on Wednesday morning, but he escaped unharmed, his spokesman said. The attack killed at least 10 people and wounded 15 others, an Interior Ministry spokesman confirmed.

A spokesman for First Vice-President Amrullah Saleh said the bomb targeted Saleh's convoy and some of his bodyguards were injured

The Taliban denied involvement in the attack, which comes just ahead of long-awaited peace talks between the Afghan government and the Taliban in Qatar's capital of Doha.

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"At least 10 passersby were killed and 15 people including security guards of vice-president wounded. The number of casualties may change as an investigation is underway into the incident," Tariq Arian, spokesman for the Afghan Interior Ministry, said in a statement.

He said the blast was caused by a bomb planted on the side of the crowded road.

The blast occurred at 7:35 am local time in Sabiqa Square of Taimani locality, Police District 4 of the city, sending a column of thick smoke into the sky and triggering panic, a witness told Xinhua earlier in the day.

Map of Kabul locating a deadly explosion on Sept 9, 2020, that left Afghanistan's First Vice-President Amrullah Saleh lightly wounded. (GRAPHIC / AFP)

"Today, once again the enemy of Afghanistan tried to harm Saleh, but they failed in their evil aim, and Saleh escaped the attack unharmed," Razwan Murad, a spokesman for Saleh's office, wrote on Facebook.

He told Reuters the bomb targeted Saleh's convoy and some of his bodyguards were injured.

The Taliban denied involvement in the attack, which comes just ahead of long-awaited peace talks between the Afghan government and the Taliban in Doha

Saleh appeared in a video on his social media accounts soon after, saying he had sustained a minor burn on his face and an injury to his hand in the attack.

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said in a tweet that Taliban fighters were not involved in the blast.

The former intelligence chief and the senior of President Ashraf Ghani's two vice-presidents, has survived several assassination attempts, including one on his office last year that killed 20 people.

READ MORE: Death toll in attack at Afghan political office rises to 20

"Such attacks won't weaken our resolve for a lasting and dignified peace in Afghanistan," Javid Faisal, spokesman for the National Security Council, said in a tweet.

A smoke plume rises following an explosion targeting the convoy of Afghanistan's First Vice-President Amrullah Saleh in Kabul on Sept 9, 2020. (NAJIBA NOORI / AFP)

International powers including the European Union (EU) and Pakistan also condemned the attack.

"This is an attack on the Republic, & desperate act by spoilers of peace efforts, who must be collectively confronted," the EU Delegation in Afghanistan said in a statement on Twitter.

Officials and diplomats have warned that rising violence is sapping trust needed for the success of talks aimed at ending an insurgency that began when the Taliban were ousted from power in Kabul by US-back forces in late 2001.