49 killed, over 300 injured in Kabul explosion near Indian embassy
Kabul: A suicide car bombing near Indian embassy in Kabul have killed at least 49 people and left over 300 wounded on Wednesday morning. The explosion took place barely a few hundred metres from the Indian embassy. The site is also close to the presidential palace and several foreign embassies.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has condemned the attack and tweeted, “India stands with Afghanistan in fighting all types of terrorism. Forces supporting terrorism need to be defeated.” External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj has also tweeted that Indian officials are safe.
Thick smoke could be seen rising from the centre of the city but it is not clear what the target was.
Houses hundreds of metres away from the blast were damaged with windows and doors blown off their hinges.
Witnesses said dozens of cars were blocking roads and some wounded people could be seen.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility, but the attack came as the resurgent Taliban are stepping up their annual “spring offensive”.
The ISIS 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.
The blast was the latest in a long line of attacks in the Afghan capital. Kabul province had the highest number of casualties in the first three months of 2017 because of multiple attacks in the city.
