The death toll from a Taliban suicide attack in Kabul has more than doubled to 64, officials said Wednesday, the deadliest militant assault in the Afghan capital for years.

The death toll from a Taliban suicide attack in Kabul has more than doubled to 64, officials said Wednesday, the deadliest militant assault in the Afghan capital for years.

The brazen assault on Tuesday in a densely packed Kabul neighborhood marked the first major Taliban attack in Kabul since the insurgents announced the start of this year's fighting season last week.

A powerful Taliban truck bomb tore through central Kabul and a fierce firefight broke out, sending clouds of smoke billowing into the sky and rattling windows several kilometers away.

"It is with regret that I announce that 64 people were killed and 347 others wounded in yesterday's Kabul attack. Most of them are civilians," ministry spokesman Sediq Sediqqi told reporters.

The ministry had earlier put the death toll at 30.

"The victims of (the) terrorist attack are all fathers, brothers or children of people," Afghan President Ashraf Ghani said on Twitter.

"We will avenge every drop of Afghan blood."