Afghan bombing kills 95, injures 158
Taliban claims responsibility for ambulance explosion, second attack in a week
KABUL— A suicide bomber driving an ambulance coasted through a security checkpoint in Afghanistan’s capital on Saturday by telling police he was taking a patient to a nearby hospital and then detonated his explosives at a second checkpoint, killing at least 95 people and wounding 158 more in an attack claimed by the Taliban, authorities said.
The powerful explosion, which came a week after Taliban militants killed 22 people at an international hotel in the capital, Kabul, was felt throughout the city and covered the blast area in smoke and dust. Dozens of vehicles were damaged or destroyed, and several shops, including some selling antiques and photography equipment, were decimated.
Windows at the nearby Jamhuriat government hospital were shattered, and its walls were damaged. People ran out to help, and ambulances arrived to transport dozens of wounded people to hospitals.
The Interior Ministry said four suspects in the deadly bombing, which occurred near the European Union and Indian consulates, had been arrested and were being questioned, but it didn’t elaborate.
“The majority of the dead in the attack are civilians, but of course we have military casualties as well,” ministry spokesperson Nasrat Rahimi said.
A Taliban spokesperson, Zabihullah Mujahid, claimed responsibility for the bombing, which sent thick, black smoke into the sky from a site near the government’s former Interior Ministry building.
U.S. President Donald Trump issued a statement condemning “the despicable car bombing attack.” He said “all countries should take decisive action” against the Taliban.
U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said the Taliban’s use of an ambulance as a weapon to target civilians in a bombing in Afghanistan’s capital “represents inhumane disregard for the people of Afghanistan.”
Tillerson said the ambulance attack is “a violation of the most basic international norms.”
It has been a month of relentless attacks across Afghanistan, with the Taliban and Daesh, also known as ISIS or ISIL, affiliate making alternate claims of responsibility. The brutality and frequency of the attacks, including one in December at a Shiite cultural centre, has shattered Afghanistan’s usually quiet winter, when fighting normally slows down.
UN Secretary- General Antonio Guterres quickly condemned Saturday’s attack, saying through a spokesperson that “Indiscriminate attacks against civilians . . . can never be justified.” U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan John R. Bass called the attack “senseless and cowardly.”
It was the second successful Taliban attack in a week on high-security targets in the city. Last weekend, six Taliban militants attacked the Intercontinental Hotel, leaving 22 people dead, including 14 foreigners.