Afghan officials say a heavy explosion has caused casualties and damage in the diplomatic area of the capital Kabul.
Najib Danish, deputy spokesman for the Interior Ministry, said at least 50 people were killed or wounded in the suicide car bombing Wednesday.
The blast in the Wazir Akbar Khan area happened near several embassies and not far from the presidential palace.
A person apparently driving a sewage tanker packed with explosives managed to penetrate the supposedly secure embassy district in Kabul
Windows were shattered in shops, restaurants and other buildings up to a kilometer from the blast site.
The bombing killed at least 80 people and wounded some 350, according to Ismail Kawasi, spokesman for the public health ministry. He said the target of the attack was not immediately known but that most of the casualties were civilians, including women and children.
Danish said the blast was so heavy more than 30 vehicles were either destroyed or damaged.
No group immediately claimed responsibility for Wednesday’s explosion, which struck the heart of Kabul’s highly secure diplomatic district, the Wazir Akbar Khan area. The neighborhood is home to several embassies and not far from the Presidential Palace and foreign ministry. German and Pakistani authorities have said some of their employees and staff were hurt in the explosion.
Afghan President condemns attack
Afghan President Ashraf Ghani has strongly condemned the massive attack in Kabul earlier in the morning, just days into the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
Wednesday’s statement from Ghani’s office says the president said 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.”
Pakistan also issued a statement, saying it “strongly condemns the terrorist attack in Kabul this morning that has caused loss of precious human lives and injuries to many.”
The statement from Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said “the blast has caused damage to the residences of some Pakistani diplomats and staff, living in the close vicinity, and inflicted minor injuries to some.”
Afghan Taliban says not responsible
The Afghan Taliban are denying any involvement in the massive suicide attack that struck the capital, Kabul, earlier in the day.
Zabihullah Mujahid, spokesman for the Taliban, says that Wednesday’s explosion had “nothing to do with the Mujahedeen of Islamic Emirate,” as the Taliban call themselves.
Mujahid says the Taliban were not involved and that whoever “carried out this attack and for what purpose, that will become clear at a later stage.” His statement added that the Taliban condemn “every explosion and attack carried out against civilians, or in which civilians are harmed.”
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.
Embassy staffs injured
Japan’s Foreign Ministry reported two of its embassy employees, both Japanese nationals, were slightly injured in the bombing in Kabul earlier in the day.
The ministry said the injured were inside the embassy complex, located near the site of Wednesday’s bombing. It said embassy officials also reported some minor damage to the building, such as broken windows but that there are no other reports of injuries or damage involving Japanese nationals in Kabul.
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu says Turkey will evacuate some of its embassy staff from Kabul after the building was damaged in the explosion that hit the Afghan capital.
Cavusoglu called for an investigation into how the suicide car bomb was able to reach Kabul’s heavily protected diplomatic district where it detonated at a busy intersection on Wednesday. Cavusoglu added that no one among the Turkish Embassy personnel was hurt in the explosion. He said the ambassador was in Turkey at the time of the attack. The ministry condemned the attack and said Turkey would continue to stand by Afghanistan in the fight against terrorism.
India reported “some damage to windows” at the Indian Embassy building, located next to the German, Iranian and British embassies.
Journalists killed, wounded
The International Federation of Journalists and its affiliate, the Afghan Independent Journalists Association, condemned the brutal attack in which at least two media staffers were killed and four others were wounded.
The statement said a “TOLO TV’s staff member Aziz Navin was killed along with BBC Kabul’s staff driver Nazeer Ahamad” and that three other BBC Kabul staff and a reporter for TV1, a private Afghan channel, were wounded. The office of TV1 is located close to the site of the explosion.
