The death toll from suicide attack on a gathering of religious scholars in Kabul has raised to 14, sources said.

The sources added that 17 others were wounded.

The explosion happened near a gathering of over 2,000 religious scholars at Loya Jirga, the Grand Assembly, tent close to Kabul Polytechnic University sharply after the Ulema issued a fatwa against the ongoing war in the country.

Kabul police said it was a suicide bombing.

“The suicide attack happened outside the (Loya Jirga) tent when religious scholars were leaving the gathering,” Kabul Police spokesman Hashmat Stanikzai said.

Stanikzai said according to their initial information, the explosion left seven people dead and nine others wounded.

Taliban denied any involvement in the attack.

During the gathering, the religious scholars issued a fatwa, an Islamic directive, against the ongoing war in the country.

For years, Afghanistan has been plagued by violence by militants, who often use suicide bombers and claim that their struggle is a holy war to impose Islamic rule.

“War in its all types is forbidden under the Islamic and Sharia law and it is nothing but shedding the blood of Muslims,” the religious scholars said in the fatwa.

Suicide attacks in Afghanistan are frequently condemned as fanatical and immoral, especially when civilians are killed, but insurgents view the tactic as their most effective weapon.

“Suicide attacks, explosions for killing people, division, insurgency, different types of corruption, robbery, kidnapping and any type of violence are counted as big sins in Islam and are against the order of the Almighty Allah,” the Afghan clerics said.

The religious scholars said that according to the Holy Quran, killing of Muslims is "Haram" and “illegitimate”.

The religious scholars repeated their call on the Taliban to accept the Afghan government’s “unconditional” peace offer.