90 dead as huge bomb hits Kabul’s ‘safest area’
AMASSIVE explosion has rocked a highly secure diplomatic area of Kabul, killing at least 90 people and wounding as many as 400.
The attack left a scene of mayhem and destruction and sent a huge plume of smoke over the Afghan capital.
The target of the blast – which officials said was a suicide car bombing – is unclear, but Ismail Kawasi, spokesman for the public health ministry, said most of the casualties were civilians, including women and children.
It was one of the worst attacks Kabul has seen since the drawdown of foreign forces at the end of 2014.
Images from the scene showed the German embassy and several others heavily damaged. Germany and Pakistan said some of their embassy employees and staff were hurt in the explosion. The explosion took place at the peak of Kabul’s rush hour when roads are packed with commuters. The bomb went off close to a busy intersection in the Wazir Akbar Khan district, said Najib Danish, deputy spokesman for the Interior Ministry.
The neighbourhood is considered Kabul’s safest area, with foreign embassies protected by dozens of 10ft blast walls, and government offices guarded by police and national security forces.
The Foreign Ministry and the Presidential Palace are in the area, as are the British, Canadian, Chinese, Turkish and Iranian embassies.
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, and others congregated outside the nearby Italian-run Emergency Hospital.
A statement from the Ministry of Interior Affairs said it “condemns in the strongest terms the terrorist attack”.
“These heinous acts go against the values of humanity as well as values of peaceful Afghans. These attacks also demonstrate the extreme level of atrocity by terrorists against innocent civilians.”
President Ashraf Ghani strongly condemned the attack, which came days into the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. A statement from his office quoted Mr Ghani as saying “the terrorists, even in the holy month of Ramadan, are not stopping the killing of our innocent people”.