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HomeTop NewsMassive car suicide blast near Indian embassy in Kabul kills 80, injures...

Massive car suicide blast near Indian embassy in Kabul kills 80, injures 320

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Kabul, Indian Embassy, Sushma Swaraj

At least 80 people were killed in a massive blast which ripped through the diplomatic quarter of the Afghan capital Kabul early on Wednesday, the health ministry said, warning the toll would rise further.

The blast smashed windows of the buildings nearby and a huge plume of smoke could be seen spiralling over the area near the presidential palace and other foreign embassies in 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, with men and women struggling 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.

Indian Ambassador in Kabul, Manpreet Vohra said the explosion was not too far from the embassy. “Massive VBIED (Vehicle-borne improvised explosive device) not too far from our Embassy,” Vohra said.

A statement from the Ministry of Interior Affairs says it “condemns in the strongest terms the terrorist attack” that killed so many, including women and children. The ministry did not have details on the possible target of the attack.

Afghanistan’s President Ashraf Ghani has strongly condemned the massive attack in Kabul earlier in the morning, just days into the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility, but the attack came as the resurgent Taliban are stepping up their annual “spring offensive”.

The Afghan Taliban denied responsibility in a statement, saying the movement condemned any such untargeted attacks that caused civilian casualties.

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.

A health ministry spokesman said more than 60 wounded people, mainly civilians, had been rushed to Kabul hospitals, adding: “We don’t know the number of killed yet”.

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