Truck bomb blast in Kabul diplomatic area plays havoc, death toll rises drastically
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KABUL: At least 80 people were killed and hundreds wounded Wednesday when a massive truck bomb ripped through Kabul´s diplomatic quarter, shattering the morning rush hour and bringing carnage to the streets of 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.
More than an hour after the explosion, ambulances were still taking the wounded to the hospital as firefighters struggled to control blazes in several buildings.
Health ministry spokesman Waheed Majroh said at least 49 people had been killed and 320 wounded, with the figures confirmed by a second health official and the government media office.
Authorities warned the toll could yet rise. "They are still bringing bodies and wounded people to hospitals," senior health ministry spokesman Ismael Kawoosi told AFP.
The interior ministry was calling on Kabul residents to donate blood, saying hospitals were in "dire need".
There was no immediate claim of responsibility, but the attack came as the resurgent Taliban step up their annual "spring offensive".
Militant group Daesh 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.
Najib Danish, an interior ministry spokesman, said initial findings showed it had been a truck bomb.
