A massive suicide car bombing rocked a diplomatic area of Kabul yesterday morning, killing 80 people and wounding as many as 350, an attack that left a scene of mayhem and destruction and sent a huge plume of smoke over the Afghan capital.
The target of the explosion in the Wazir Akbar Khan area was not immediately known, but Afghan Ministry of Public Health spokesman Ismail Kawasi said most of the casualties were civilians, including women and children.
It was one of the worst attacks Kabul had seen since the drawdown of foreign forces from the nation at the end of 2014. The bombing also raised serious questions about the Afghan government’s ability to secure the war-battered nation.
Photo: AFP
Associated Press images from the scene showed the German embassy and several other embassies in the area heavily damaged.
Germany, Japan and Pakistan said some of their embassy employees and staff were hurt in the explosion.
The BBC said a driver for the UK broadcaster was killed and four of its journalists were wounded.
Afghanistan’s privately owned TOLO Television also reported a staffer killed.
Germany said an Afghan security guard outside its embassy was among those killed.
The explosion took place at the peak of Kabul’s rush hour, when roads are packed with worktime commuters.
Afghan Ministry of the Interior deputy spokesman Najib Danish said the suicide car bomber detonated his explosives close to a busy intersection in the Wazir Akbar Khan area.
The neighborhood is considered Kabul’s safest area, with foreign embassies protected by dozens of 3m-high blast walls and government offices, guarded by police and national security forces.
The German embassy, the Afghan Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Presidential Palace are all in the area, as are the British, Canadian, Chinese, Turkish and Iranian embassies.
The US embassy and the NATO mission in Kabul, located about 1km away from the site, condemned the attack.
The alliance praised “the courage of Afghan Security Forces, especially the police and first responders” following the attack.
Local TV footage showed shocked residents soaked in blood stumbling about, then being ferried away to hospitals. Passers-by stopped and helped the wounded into private cars, while others congregated outside the nearby Italian-run Emergency Hospital.
No group immediately claimed responsibility for the blast, though both the Taliban and the Islamic State group have staged large-scale attacks in Kabul in the past.
The Taliban later yesterday issued a statement denying any involvement and condemning all attacks against civilians.
Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said the Kabul explosion had “nothing to do with the Mujahedeen of Islamic Emirate,” as the Taliban call themselves.
Even though the Taliban claim they are only waging war against the Kabul government and foreign forces in Afghanistan, most of the casualties of their attacks have been civilians.
A statement from the Afghan Ministry of Interior Affairs said it condemned “in the strongest terms the terrorist attack” that killed so many, including women and children.
Afghan President Ashraf Ghani also condemned the attack, which came just days into the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
A statement from his office quoted Ghani as saying that “the terrorists, even in the holy month of Ramadan, the month of goodness, blessing and prayer, are not stopping the killing of our innocent people.”
German Minister of Foreign Affairs Sigmar Gabriel said that along with the Afghan guard who was killed, a German diplomat was lightly wounded while an Afghan staffer sustained severe injuries.
Gabriel offered his condolences to the guard’s family.
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