18 people were killed in Afghanistan on Saturday in two separate suicide attacks, one targeting the Afghan Defense Ministry which killed nine people, and another targeting Afghan and international forces...

18 people were killed in Afghanistan on Saturday in two separate suicide attacks, one targeting the Afghan Defense Ministry which killed nine people, and another targeting Afghan and international forces, however it killed eight children and a policeman.

The first attack fell when a when a suicide bomber on a bicycle blew himself up outside the defense ministry in central Kabul, during a visit to the Afghan capital by new US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel.

The blast occurred near the main entrance gate to the heavily-guarded ministry, and Taliban militants immediately claimed the attack was timed to send a message to Hagel, who arrived in Kabul late on Friday.

However, Hagel was at a US facility in the city less than a mile from the attack which apparently targeted only innocent civilians, as he was “in a briefing which continued as planned without interruption," a spokesman for the Pentagon chief said.

One Afghan soldier covered in blood at the scene said he had helped carry five people from the attack site, where several cars were damaged and a wall was left pock-marked.

Gunfire erupted after the loud explosion was heard across Kabul as streets around the blast were closed off by security forces.

Zahir Azimi, Spokesman for the Afghan Defense Ministry, told reporters at the scene that the bomber had arrived on a bicycle and detonated himself 30 meters (100 feet) from the ministry gate.

Police said in a statement that nine civilians had died and 13 others were injured including two military personnel, without giving further details.

Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid told AFP: "This was not a direct attack to target him (Hagel) but we want to send a message that we are always capable of hitting Kabul even when the top US defense official is there."

Another suicide attack in eastern Afghanistan killed eight children and one policeman, officials said, indicating that the target of the strike was Afghan and international forces.

“A suicide attacker blew up his explosives on a road beside a joint patrol of Afghan police and international forces in the city of Khost," the provincial governor of Khost said in a statement.

Police said that the officer had died when he grabbed the attacker.

"A suicide attacker wanted to target a joint patrol in Khost city, but he was identified and grabbed by a policeman," Sardar, the head of Khost rapid reaction police unit, who only uses one name, told AFP.

"The attacker detonated himself killing the policeman and eight children. Two children were also wounded."