Pakistan tells US to keep close eye on Afghan peace 'spoilers'.

Islamabad: Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi Friday condemned Kabul attack on Afghanistan leader Abdullah Abdullah, saying that those who want to sabotage peace are responsible for the attack.

"Those who want to use Afghanistan for their objectives don't want to see peace in the country," he said, calling on US and other global powers to keep a close eye on elements who want to sabotage the peace process.

Qureshi said the attack will test everyone's patience, adding that peace is the only solution to the conflict. Referring to the Kabul attack as condemnable and disappointing, the foreign minister said that Afghanis have been living in difficult conditions over the past 19 years. He pledged Pakistan's support through whatever assistance it can provide.

Gunmen attacked a ceremony in Kabul on Friday, killing at least 27 people in the first major attack on the Afghan capital since the United States reached an agreement with the Taliban to withdraw US troops.

The Taliban said in a statement they were not involved in the attack. A top Afghan political leader, Abdullah Abdullah, was present at the event but escaped unharmed.

Fifty-five people were wounded, according to the Afghan ministry of health.

"The attack started with a boom, apparently a rocket landed in the area, Abdullah and some other politicians ... escaped the attack unhurt," Abdullah's spokesman, Fraidoon Kwazoon, who was also present, told Reuters by telephone.

Tolo News showed live footage of people running for cover as gunfire was heard.

A health ministry spokesman said the casualty toll could rise. Dead and wounded were being ferried from the site by ambulance. A NATO source said that the death toll was slightly higher: more than 30 killed, with 42 wounded, 20 of whom were in a serious condition.

Afghan defense forces continued to fight gunmen throughout the day, finally securing the area by killing about three gunmen in the late afternoon, according to ministry of interior spokesman Nasrat Rahimi.

The gathering had marked the anniversary of the death of Abdul Ali Mazari, an ethnic Hazara leader who was killed in 1995 after being taken prisoner by the Taliban. Several people were killed in a similar attack on the same commemoration last year, which Islamic State said was carried out by its militants.

President Ashraf Ghani tweeted that the attack was 'a crime against humanity and against the national unity of Afghanistan'.

Abdullah, who escaped, was runner-up in the last...