At least 30 people have been killed and 80 wounded in twin bombings near the Afghan parliament in the capital Kabul, officials say.
The attacks took place during rush hour, as staff were leaving the parliament complex.
Minutes after the blasts, the Taliban said they carried out the attack, targeting members of the Afghan intelligence agency.
The bombings were part of a wave of attacks across Afghanistan on Tuesday.
In Lashkar Gah, the capital of Helmand, a Taliban suicide bomber targeted a guesthouse used by an intelligence official, killing at least seven people and wounding six others.
Later, three bombs exploded at the governor's guesthouse in Kandahar province where foreign officials, including the UAE ambassador to Afghanistan, were staying.
Police say there were some injuries but no-one was killed. No group has so far claimed the attack.
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Most of the victims in the attacks in the capital are said to be civilians, including parliament staff.
Reports speak of a suicide bomber striking first, followed by a car bomb.
President Ashraf Ghani vowed that all those behind the "criminal attacks" would be caught.
"The Taliban shamelessly claim credit for the attack on civilians and they're proud of it," he said in a statement.
Afghan sources said a district head of the National Directorate of Security - Afghanistan's main intelligence agency - was among the dead.
An MP from the western Herat province, Rahima Jami, was said to have been injured.
The attack is the bloodiest to strike Kabul for several months.
An injured parliament security guard named as Zabi told AFP: "The first explosion happened outside the parliament... a number of innocent workers were killed and wounded. It was caused by a suicide bomber on foot."
He said the car containing a bomb "was parked on the other side of the road and flung me back when it detonated".
Ahmad Wali, police chief of Kabul's district 7, told the BBC the second bomb went off when police went to help the victims of the first.
He said the explosions were close to the gates of the city's American University.
In the Kandahar attack, the governor's spokesperson told the BBC that three explosions took place during a dinner party where the visiting UAE ambassador and other dignitaries were guests.
Senior police and intelligence officials were also present, the spokesperson said
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