KABUL TRUCK BOMB KILLS 80, DAMAGES EMBASSIES
Attack underscores spiralling insecurity in Afghanistan as military struggles to beat insurgents
KABUL
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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 insurgents. Over a third of the country is outside government control.
“Unfortunately, the toll has reached 80 martyred (killed) and more than 300 wounded, including many women and children,” said Health Ministry spokesman Waheed Majroh, adding that the figures would climb as more bodies were pulled from the debris.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack, which was slammed by President Ashraf Ghani as a “war crime”.
The Taliban, currently in the midst of their annual “spring offensive”, tweeted that they were not involved and that they “strongly condemn” the blast.
The group rarely claimed responsibility for attacks that kill large numbers of civilians.
The Islamic State has claimed responsibility for several recent bombings here, including a powerful blast targeting a North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (Nato) convoy that killed eight people earlier this month.
Nato said the bomb was a VBIED, or vehicle-borne improvised explosive device, which detonated near the city’s Zanbaq Square at 8.22am.
“The vigilance and courage of Afghan security forces prevented the VBIED from gaining entry to the Green Zone, but the explosion caused civilian casualties,” the alliance’s Resolute Support mission in Afghanistan said.
The explosion damaged a number of embassies in the area, which houses diplomatic and government buildings and is a maze of concrete blast walls, vehicle barriers and armed security guards.
German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel said the “despicable” attack killed an Afghan guard from the German embassy, adding that some employees were injured.
He said the bomb had detonated “in the immediate vicinity” of the German embassy.
The BBC said its Afghan driver, Mohammed Nazir, was killed and four journalists were wounded.
Local TV channel Tolo TV also tweeted that its staff member, Aziz Navin, was killed.
Manpreet Vohra, India’s envoy to Afghanistan, told media the bomb went off around 100m from India’s embassy. All staff were safe, he said, though the blast left “considerable damage”, including shattered windows.
The explosion also blew in windows at the Japanese embassy, leaving two staffers with mild injuries, a Foreign Ministry official in Tokyo said.
France, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates and Bulgaria reported damage to their embassies, while India and Pakistan joined in international condemnation of the blast.
The Nato statement, which praised the “courage” of Afghan forces, slammed the attack as “barbaric”.
Nato said the attack “highlights the hypocrisy of the enemy who claim that they only target Afghan security forces and foreign forces, yet continue to cause death and suffering amongst innocent Afghans”.
US ambassador to Afghanistan Hugo Llorens issued a scathing statement condemning the “complete disregard for human life”, saying those behind the attack deserved “utter scorn”.
Amnesty International warned that the attack “shows the conflict in Afghanistan is not winding down but dangerously widening in a way that should alarm the international community”. AFP