Afghanistan's intelligence chief has been wounded in an attack that officials are calling an assassination attempt.

Asadullah Khalid was wounded in an explosion Thursday at a guest house in the capital, Kabul. He was rushed to a hospital after the blast.

The National Security Directorate confirmed the attack, saying he is wounded but alive.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack.

Khalid took over the intelligence agency in September after President Hamid Karzai reshuffled his Cabinet.

Prior to becoming intelligence chief, Khalid served as Afghanistan's minister of tribal and border affairs and as a former provincial governor.