Afghanistan Terror Attack Updates: Taliban Hits Kabul In Worst Attack Since 2011

UPDATED: 3:10 p.m. EDT — The death toll in the Tuesday morning Taliban suicide attack in central Kabul has risen to at least 30, Afghan officials said. Over 327 people were injured in the attack that targeted the National Directorate of Security during the rush hour morning commute.

The majority of those injured in the attack were civilians, including many women and children. At least two civilians were killed in the attack.

The Afghan Ministry of the Interior said a truck loaded with explosives was detonated close to the directorate that provides security for ministers and high-level politicians. Officials said at least three people had carried out the attack and two of them had been killed.

"I have never heard a blast so loud. Everyone around us was startled by the sheer volume of the explosion," a government worker told the Los Angeles Times.

UPDATED: 1:37 p.m. EDT — The U.S. Department of State issued a brief statement Tuesday in response to the deadly Taliban attack in Afghanistan's capital city of Kabul earlier in the day, which was followed by a separate explosion. The State Department used the opportunity to characterize the Taliban as "violent extremists" who "continue to inflict harm on the Afghan people."

UPDATED: 1:10 p.m. EDT — Afghan President Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai visited victims of Tuesday morning’s suicide attack at Sardar M. Daud Khan Hospital. The attack, conducted by the Taliban outside of the National Directorate of Security in central Kabul, killed at least 28 people and left over 320 people injured.

Following the worst suicide attack in Afghanistan since 2011, a second explosion shook nerves but did not result in any casualties. Interior minister spokesman Sediq Sediqqi said the second explosion was caused by an improvised explosive device.

The morning attack killed both civilians and Afghan security forces, officials said.

UPDATED: 11:47 a.m. EDT — The source of the Kabul explosion that came hours after a Taliban attack there remained unclear. It was a roadside bomb in the Share Naw neighborhood of Afghanistan's capital city, according to a breakingNews.com alert. However, the city's police chief said the explosion was caused by a "gas slander," according to a journalist from Voice of America.

The reference to a "gas slander" may actually mean a gas cylinder.

Both of those reports indicate there were no deaths or injuries associated with the most recent explosion.

UPDATED: 11:17 a.m. EDT — Conflicting accounts circulated about where exactly a Kabul explosion occurred Tuesday evening following a Taliban attack in Afghanistan's capital city hours earlier. According to a tweet from a local business, it took place in a northern Kabul neighborhood called Wazir Akbar Khan near the home of an Afghan warlord.

However, a journalist for the BBC tweeted that a member of local law enforcement told him the explosion was from improvised explosive devices in another Kabul neighborhood, Shirpor.

UPDATED: 10:51 a.m. EDT — Another explosion in Kabul has been reported on social media. The exact location and the blast's effects were not immediately known.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for an attack earlier in the day that killed more than two dozen people and injured at least 325 others.

UPDATED: 9:50 a.m. EDT — A United Nations representative said the deadly Taliban attack in Kabul on Tuesday that has left at least 28 dead and over 327 injured could amount to war crimes.

“This attack shows the devastation caused by the use of explosive devices in urban areas and once more demonstrates complete disregard for the lives of Afghan civilians,” said Tadamichi Yamamoto, the secretary-general’s deputy special representative for Afghanistan. “The use of high explosives in civilian populated areas, in circumstances almost certain to cause immense suffering to civilians, may amount to war crimes.”

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon also condemned the attacks, urging the international community to work together to stop extremism. "We must fight against these terrorist attacks," he said.

Original story:

American officials condemned the Taliban suicide bombing and gun attack in Kabul during the Tuesday morning commute that has left at least 28 people dead and more than 320 injured.

“Afghanistan deserves peace and security, not attacks that victimize parents taking their children to school, workers on their morning commute and people who have stepped forward to help defend their fellow citizens,” the U.S. Embassy in Kabul said in a statement. “Our thoughts and prayers are with the victims and families and friends of those affected.”

The attack in Afghanistan’s capital is the deadliest single attack since 2011, raising questions over security and the government’s fight against the Taliban since the drawdown of American troops at the end of 2014.

The attack took place outside of the National Directorate of Security (NDS) office. The Taliban claimed on its website that it was targeting an NDS branch that is responsible for protesting government ministers and high-level government officials, Reuters reported. After the explosion of a suicide car bomber at the NDS’ main gate, other attackers and suicide bombers tried to enter the compound. The Taliban claimed fighters had engaged in a gunfight within the compound with security officials.

The U.S. Embassy and the NATO mission in Afghanistan are both located close to the NDS compound but were not affected by the attacks. Abdullah Abdullah, the chief executive of the Afghan government, said the attack showed “the depth of barbarity and terror of Afghanistan’s enemies” and that the Taliban was not interested in calls for peace issued by the government.

The Taliban announced the start of its spring offensive last week, with fighting raging around the northern city of Kunduz and in the southern province of Helmand.

The major suicide bombing that hit Kabul in 2011 left 60 people dead outside of a mosque.