GRAPHIC: AFGHANISTAN VICE PRESIDENT NARROWLY ESCAPES ASSASSINATION BY SUICIDE BOMBING AS HE RETURNS FROM EXILE

Afghanistan Vice President Abdul Rashid Dostum narrowly escaped assassination by suicide bombing at Kabul airport on Sunday as he returns to the country after spending more than twelve months in exile after being accused of torturing political rival Ahmad Eshchi.

11 people were reportedly killed in the blast and a few others sustained various injuries.

Kabul police spokesman Hashmat Stanekzai said the bomb went off near the main entrance to the airport, where supporters had been waiting to greet Dostum as his motorcade passed on its way to the city centre.

"The number of casualties may rise. The blast happened right after Dostum's convoy left the airport."

Dostum faced heavy criticism after reports in 2016 that his guards had seized political rival Ahmad Eshchi and subjected him to beatings, torture and violent sexual abuse.

He denied Eshchi's accusations but, amid international demands that he be held accountable, he left the country in May last year to seek medical treatment in Turkey and didn't return until Sunday.

Dostum, loved and loathed, supports the West against the Taliban but he is accused of committing numerous atrocities dating back decades.