Mr Karzai, government ministers, former warlords, diplomats and the military top brass ducked for cover after gunfire sounded at the event.
 

Three people were killed, a parliamentarian, the head of a minority group and a 10-year-old child, and 10 were wounded, officials said. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack and said three of its fighters were killed.

British ambassador Sherard Cowper-Coles was standing on the front row of the dais alongside the US envoy to Kabul.

All cabinet members and foreign diplomats at the parade along with General Dan McNeill, US commander of international forces in Afghanistan, were safe and well.

NATO condemned the attack and said it would make no difference to the alliance's involvement in Afghanistan.