Afghanistan blast: Suicide car bomb kills 80, wounds hundreds in Kabul's diplomatic quarter

lcafanboy

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Afghanistan blast: Suicide car bomb kills 80, wounds hundreds in Kabul's diplomatic quarter

31 MAY 2017 • 8:57AM



At least 80 people were killed and hundreds wounded Wednesday when a massive truck bomb ripped through Kabul's diplomatic quarter, shattering the morning rush hour and bringing carnage to the streets of the Afghan capital.

Bodies littered the scene and a towering plume of smoke rose from the area, which houses foreign embassies, after the blast blew out the windows in several missions and residences hundreds of metres away.

Witnesses described dozens of cars choking the roads as wounded survivors and panicked schoolgirls sought safety. Men and women struggled to get through security checkpoints to search for loved ones.

It was not immediately clear what the target was. But the attack underscores spiralling insecurity in Afghanistan, where a military beset by soaring casualties and desertions is struggling to beat back the insurgents. Over a third of the country is outside government control.





The suspected car bomb killed or wounded dozens of people CREDIT: SHAH MARAI/AFP/GETTY IMAGES



More than an hour after the explosion, ambulances were still taking the wounded to hospital and officials were pulling bodies from the rubble as firefighters struggled to control blazes in several buildings.

The health ministry said at least 80 people had been killed. A further 320 were reported to have been wounded, including women and children.

A suicide bomber detonated an explosives-packed vehicle in Zanbaq Square around 08:30 am, the ministry said in a statement. "More than 50 vehicles were either destroyed or damaged."




Authorities warned the toll could yet rise. "They are still bringing bodies and wounded people to hospitals," senior health ministry spokesman Ismael Kawoosi told AFP.





People who were injured in a suicide bomb attack receive first aid at the scene of attack in Kabul, Afghanistan CREDIT: EPA/JAWAD JALALI



The interior ministry was calling on Kabul residents to donate blood, saying hospitals were in "dire need".

There was no immediate claim of responsibility, but the attack came as the resurgent Taliban step up their annual "spring offensive".

The Islamic State group has also claimed responsibility for several recent bombings in the Afghan capital, including a powerful blast targeting an armoured NATO convoy that killed at least eight people and wounded 28 on May 3.

Embassies damaged
Manpreet Vohra, India's envoy to Afghanistan, told the Times Now television channel the bomb went off around 100 metres from India's embassy, one of several in the area.

"We are all safe, all our staff, all our personnel are safe. However, the blast was very large and nearby buildings including our own building have considerable damage in terms of broken glass and shattered windows and blown doors etc," he said.





Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted: "We strongly condemn the terrorist blast in Kabul. Our thoughts are with the families of the deceased & prayers with the injured."




The explosion also shattered windows at the Japanese embassy. "Two Japanese embassy staffers were mildly injured, suffering cuts," a foreign ministry official in Tokyo told AFP.

France also reported damage to its own embassy and the German one. There was no information on possible casualties.

Pentagon chief Jim Mattis has warned of "another tough year" for both foreign troops and local forces in Afghanistan.





An Afghan security force member stands at the site of a car bomb attack in Kabul on May 31 CREDIT: SHAH MARAI/AFP



Afghan troops are backed by US and NATO forces, and the Pentagon has reportedly asked the White House to send thousands more troops to the country to break the deadlock in the fight against the Taliban.

US troops in Afghanistan number about 8,400 now, and there are another 5,000 from NATO allies. They mainly serve in an advisory capacity - a far cry from the US presence of more than 100,000 six years ago.

The blast was the latest in a long line of attacks in Kabul. The province surrounding the capital had the highest number of casualties in the first three months of 2017 due to multiple attacks in the city, with civilians bearing the brunt of the violence.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/201...uge-explosion-near-presidential-palace-kabul/
 

HariPrasad-1

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Porkie hand behind the bast. It is just a formality before the truth comes out.
 
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TheHurtLocker

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This was just horrific!
May the lives of the innocents taken violently through the ISI's henchmen, rest in peace.
 

vinuzap

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these sunni group are currently targetting Iran with safe heaven in pakistan

iran to has stakes in balochistan and its time it should play its card
 

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