A suicide attacker has targeted a highly secure diplomatic area of Kabul with a truck bomb, killing 90 people and wounding up to 400. The bomber drove into the Afghan capital’s diplomatic quarter during the morning rush hour, leaving behind a bloody scene of chaos and destruction in one of the worst attacks since the drawdown of foreign forces from Afghanistan in 2014.
Most of the casualties were civilians, including women and children, said Ismail Kawasi, spokesman for the public health ministry. But the dead also included Afghan security guards at the facilities, including the US Embassy, while 11 American contractors were wounded – none with life-threatening injuries, a US State Department official said.
“I have been to many attacks, taken wounded people out of many blast sites, but I can say I have never seen such a horrible attack as I saw this morning,” ambulance driver Alef Ahmadzai said. “Everywhere was on fire and so many people were in critical condition.” There was no claim of responsibility for the attack, which came in the first week of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. The Taliban flatly denied any involvement in an email to news outlets and condemned all attacks against civilians.
The explosives were hidden in a tanker truck used to clean out septic systems, said Najib Danish, deputy spokesman for the interior minister. The number of dead and wounded was provided by the Afghan government’s media centre, citing a statement from the Afghan Ulema Council, the country’s top religious body that includes Muslim clerics, scholars and men of authority in religion and law.
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