At least 27 people were killed in an attack on a political rally in Kabul Friday, officials said, in the first major assault in the city since the US signed a withdrawal deal with the Taliban.

Interior ministry spokesman Nasrat Rahimi said women and children were among the dead. 

Earlier the same day, Afghanistan’s Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah escaped unhurt in an attack on a ceremony in Kabul.

 The ceremony marking the anniversary of the death of Abdul Ali Mazari, leader of the Hezb-e Wahdat party, which Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah and other politicians were attending, was attacked when the head of the High Peace Council, Mohammad Karim Khalili, was giving a speech.

 The gunmen opened indiscriminate firing on the participants whereas the security personnel present also responded.

 According to AFP, gunfire erupted at a political rally in western Kabul on Friday, an Afghan security official said, in what appeared to be the first attack to hit the capital since the US signed a withdrawal deal with the Taliban.

 "Afghan special forces and police forces have reached the site," said Nasrat Rahimi, an interior ministry spokesman.

 No group claimed immediate responsibility for the incident, which occurred at the commemoration ceremony for Abdul Ali Mazari -- a politician from the Hazara ethnic group, most of whom are Shia.