Taliban militants have attacked an Afghan army post and killed 18 government soldiers, the defense ministry said on Saturday, while multiple suicide bombings killed several people. Militants attacked a government army post overnight on Friday in the western province of Farah, a Ministry of Defense spokesman said. "A large number of Taliban attacked an army outpost and we lost 18 soldiers and two were wounded," said the spokesman, Dawlat Waziri. Waziri said he had no more details of the attack. The Talbian claimed responsibility and said two of their fighters were killed. Violence has intensified in Afghanistan since US President Donald Trump unveiled a more aggressive strategy in August with US-led forces carrying out more air strikes and the Taliban responding with bombs, ambushes and raids. The capital has been on high alert since a Taliban suicide bomber blew up an explosive-packed ambulance on a busy street on Jan. 27, killing more than 100 people and wounding at least 235. A week earlier, militants killed more than 20 people, including four Americans, in an attack on one of the citys top hotels. The Taliban claimed that attack too. On Saturday, one suicide bomber detonated his explosives near the diplomatic area of Kabul during the morning rush hour, killing at least one person and wounding six others, interior ministry spokesman Najib Danish told AFP. A security source who requested not to be named said the explosion happened near a compound belonging to the National Directorate of Security (NDS), the Afghan intelligence agency. The NDS compound is located near the NATO headquarters and the US embassy. ISIS claimed responsibility in a message on their Amaq news agency. In separate attacks in volatile southern Helmand province, two suicide car bombs killed at least two soldiers and wounded more than a dozen others, officials said.