Strong 6.2-magnitude earthquake rocks Afghanistan

The quake struck at 10:41 GMT near Afghanistan's border with Tajikistan in the Hindu Kush Mountains at a depth of 111 kilometres (69 miles), the USGS said.

It was the second earthquake to shake the country on Wednesday. AFP correspondents in Kabul felt the ground move for at least a minute in the second quake.

There were no immediate reports of damage or casualties in the northeastern province of Badakhshan where the earthquake was centred. 

Kabul was already on edge after a series of explosions rocked the city earlier in the day.

Suicide bombers and gunmen launched apparent coordinated attacks on two Kabul police stations, with security forces still searching buildings for some of the assailants.

At least two officers were killed and half a dozen civilians were wounded in the attacks, one of which was ongoing, police and health officials said, as the city braces for more violence in the coming days.

After an easing of attacks in Kabul in February and March, Taliban and Islamic State group militants have stepped up assaults in the city in recent weeks.

IS claimed responsibility for the first attack on a police station in a heavily Shia-populated neighbourhood in the city's west, which police spokesman Hashmatullah Estanakzai told AFP had ended.

Interior ministry spokesman Najib Danish said a suicide bomber blew himself up outside the station, triggering an intense gunfight.

"Two attackers were killed. Two policemen also lost their lives and two policemen are wounded," Estanakzai said.

Ariana TV footage showed a thick plume of black smoke rising into the sky while a photo posted on Twitter purportedly of the west Kabul police station showed a building on fire.

The second attack took place in front of a police station in Shar-e-Naw neighbourhood in downtown Kabul where a "search and clearing operation" was still under way.

Agencies contributed to this report.