Kabul Taliban Suicide Bombing: Dozens Killed, Over 100 Injured In Afghan Capital

A suicide bombing near the old interior ministry building and offices of the European Union and High Peace Council in Kabul at 12:15 local time (03:00 a.m. EST) Saturday resulted in the death of at-least 40 people and injured 140 others. According to officials, the number of casualties was likely to rise.

Waheed Majrooh, health ministry spokesman, confirmed the number of casualties. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack, Al jazeera reported.

According to BBC News, an ambulance carrying explosives drove past the police checkpoints into a street closed for public transport. This is the second major Taliban attack in the capital this week.

Witnesses recounted that the area — home to foreign embassies, was full of pedestrians at the time when the bomb exploded. They heard at least three explosions.

Officials said the casualties were being brought to the hospital for medical attention. The Emergency service in Kabul tweeted that the wounded were transported to the hospital after the attack.

This is the third explosion this month that claimed lives of number of people in Kabul. The incident comes days after a Taliban attack on the Intercontinental Hotel in the city that left 22 dead on Jan.22. The attack started when four gunmen entered the hotel and started shooting the guests. Witnesses at the scene said a sense of terror gripped the area as they ran from the bullets and said in minutes the whole floor was engulfed in flames.

The building was under a 14-hour siege that involved dozens of hostages including foreigners. Fourteen foreigners reportedly died in the attack including four US citizens, Reuters reported.

A representative of Afghan airline Kam Air told Reuters that about 40 of it’s crew including many foreigners were staying at the hotel. Among them 10 died and many were missing. One of the hostages, Afghan Telecom executive Aziz Tayeb said, “I saw people who were enjoying themselves a second ago screaming and fleeing like crazy, and some of them falling down, hit by bullets,” Guardian reported.

Another guest Abdul Rahman Naseri, who was staying at the hotel, told Reuters that the men were dressed in army uniforms.

“They were shouting in Pashto: ‘Don’t leave any of them alive, good or bad. Shoot and kill them all, I ran to my room on the second floor. I opened the window and tried to get out using a tree but the branch broke and I fell to the ground. I hurt my back and broke a leg,” he added.

Another witness said people ran into their rooms and locked themselves in while describing the dreadful scene.

The interior ministry spokesman Najib Danish said the security maintenance of the hotel was taken over by a private firm about three week ago. Witnesses said that the guards lacked experience while dealing with the hostage crisis.

A 24-year-old hotel employee said, “They didn’t attack. They didn’t do anything to them. They had no experience,” Guardian reported.

The frequency of the blasts are a cause of concern since a blast was also reported at the office of Save the Children this week in Jalalabad, where three people were killed. The attack was instigated by Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.