The attack also left 19 civilians wounded

There were no immediate claims of responsibility for the attacks.

Violence has soared in Afghanistan in recent months, even as the Taliban and government negotiators hold peace talks in Qatar.

No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, but both the Taliban and the Islamic State group are active in eastern Afghanistan, especially in Nangarhar.

A martyr's column dedicated to the memory of the jawans who laid down their lives in the line of duty will be inaugurated at the solemn function

Afghan Interior Ministry spokesman Nasrat Rahimi rejected the Taliban's claim and wrote on social media that 'he enemies' claim that gunmen entered the Green Village complex is untrue'.

Rajiv Gandhi's wife Sonia Gandhi, and his children, Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra paid him tributes at his memorial, Veer Bhumi, in the capital on Tuesday.

The blast targeted a van carrying police officers outside the Data Darbar shrine, the largest Sufi shrine in South Asia.

The accused, 29, has reportedly confessed to have been inspired by Zahran Hashim, the alleged mastermind behind last Sunday's suicide bombings in Sri Lanka in which at least 250 died.

Suicide bombers, believed to be members of local Islamist extremist group, carried out a series of devastating blasts that tore through churches and luxury hotels in Sri Lanka on Sunday.

The Sri Lankan police have arrested 24 people in connection with a series of devastating suicide bombings at hotels and churches on Easter Sunday that left at least 290 people dead and more than 500 injured.

India's External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj made a brief, unannounced stopover in Tehran on way to Bulgaria on February 16 to meet with the Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi to discuss the bombings in their respective countries.

Officials said they feared the death toll could rise after the assault, the latest targeting civilians who have borne the brunt of the violence in Afghanistan's long conflict.

Among the 20 dead were 12 Sikhs and Hindus, he told AFP. Another 20 people were wounded.

A high alert was sounded in the valley two days ahead of Republic Day and a message was circulated that an 18-year-old non-Kashmiri woman might "cause a suicide bomb explosion".

"The suicide bomber used an ambulance to pass through the checkpoints. He passed through the first checkpoint saying he was taking a patient to Jamuriate hospital and at the second checkpoint he was recognised and blew his explosive-laden car."

A suicide attacker on foot blew himself up near a compound belonging to the Afghan intelligence agency in Kabul

In southern Ghazni province, the insurgents stormed a security compound, using a suicide car

The explosion took place at the shrine at a time when hundreds of people had gathered to pay their respect.