A suicide bomber tried to enter a cultural center in Kabul and detonated his vest outside the center, killing one civilian, the Afghan Ministry of Interior said in a statement on Thursday.

Eyewitnesses on the scene, at the Nasir Khusraw Cultural Center, reported that minutes after the explosions several ambulances and fire fighter vehicles, Afghan and some foreign forces rushed to the area to rescue the victims. So far no group has claimed responsibility for the blast.

Kabul has witnessed several explosions and suicide attacks in a spell of winter security setbacks that have many worried many as the April elections draw near and foreign troops continue to pack up ahead of their withdrawal in December.

With less than a year before the NATO combat mission ends, and still no security deal reached with the U.S. or NATO ensuring a continued military partnership finalized, many Afghans have become increasingly concerned with the direction things are headed in.

Many officials are concerned that insecurity, or at least fear of it, could lead to a low voter turnout in the April Presidential and Provincial Council elections.

Yet the Ministry of Interior, along with Afghan and foreign military leaders in recent months, expressed confidence in the Afghan security forces and their improved capabilities.

Some commentators were more critical, however, emphasizing the boost President Hamid Karzai's hesitance in signing the Kabul-Washington Bilateral Security Agreement (BSA) gives to the anti-government insurgents.