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Kabul Explosion Leaves Dozens Dead and Hundreds Hurt Attack in Kabul Leaves Dozens Dead and Hundreds Hurt
(about 7 hours later)
KABUL, Afghanistan — Hundreds of people were wounded and dozens were killed on Tuesday in central Kabul, as a huge explosion struck during the morning rush hour. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack. KABUL, Afghanistan — The Taliban claimed responsibility for a huge truck bomb that exploded in central Kabul during Tuesday morning’s rush hour, underscoring fears about the group’s ability to penetrate the capital as fighting season intensifies.
Kabul’s police chief, Gen. Abdul Rahman Rahimi, said 28 people, most of them civilians, had been killed. But that number was expected to rise, as health officials said 327 people had been wounded. The blast happened in a crowded area, near several government offices and a busy bus stop. The suicide bombing, which killed at least 30 people and wounded more than 300, was the deadliest attack in the capital since 2011.
Sediq Sediqqi, a spokesman for the Interior Ministry, said a car bomb had been detonated outside the offices of the Directorate of Security for Dignitaries, an elite security force that provides protection to senior government officials. The explosion rattled windows in much of the city. Security forces in Kabul have been on high alert since the Taliban announced their annual spring offensive last week, amid reports that suicide bombers had entered the city and were planning attacks.
Gunfire was heard after the explosion. Police officials said that militants had entered the compound after the explosion and that Afghan security units had arrived in response. But General Rahimi said just one militant had gone in, and that he had been gunned down in less than half an hour. Sediq Sediqqi, a spokesman for the Interior Ministry, said the number of dead and wounded was expected to rise, since the blast went off in a crowded area near several government offices and a busy bus stop.
“I saw dozens of people lying on the road hopelessly — some screaming, others silently giving out their last breath, and some already dead,” one of the wounded, Sadiqullah, 25, said, adding that more than a dozen vehicles had been badly damaged, with drivers and passengers either injured or killed. Mr. Sediqqi said a truck full of “probably hundreds of kilograms of explosives” had been detonated behind the offices of the Directorate of Security for Dignitaries, an elite security force that provides protection to senior government officials.
Mr. Sadiqullah, who runs a tea shop and, like many Afghans, goes by one name, said the blast was “so strong that I felt it struck me or my shop personally.” Mr. Sadiqullah suffered a head wound. The explosion, which was followed by gunfire, rattled windows in much of the city. Mr. Sediqqi described the area destroyed as “vast.”
A spokesman for the Taliban, Zabihullah Mujahid, issued a statement that claimed responsibility for the attack. The statement said that “a truck full of explosives” had been detonated before fighters entered the compound. Police officials said that militants had entered the office compound after the explosion and that Afghan security units had arrived in response. But Gen. Abdul Rahman Rahimi, Kabul’s police chief, said that just one militant had entered the compound, and that he had been gunned down in less than half an hour.
Security forces in Kabul, the Afghan capital, have been on high alert since the Taliban announced their annual spring offensive last week, amid reports that suicide bombers had entered the city and were planning attacks. A spokesman for the Taliban, Zabihullah Mujahid, issued a statement claiming responsibility for the attack. The statement said that “a truck full of explosives” had been detonated before fighters entered the compound.
The chief executive of the Afghan government, Abdullah Abdullah, visited the site of the attack, saying it showed “the depth of barbarity and terror of Afghanistan’s enemies.” He said the country’s defense and security forces had remained on alert because the Taliban had clearly rejected “our calls for peace.” Even as the Taliban stretch Afghan forces throughout the country, with fighting across multiple provinces, complex urban attacks remain crucial to their insurgency.
Muhammad Amir, 13, said the explosion scattered all the items in the auto repair shop where he works. “My uncle got a head wound, and my brother is still missing — it is not clear whether he is dead or alive,” he said. “I hope he has survived the attack, like I did.” The pattern is often the same. After a vehicle-borne explosion creates chaos, militants equipped with weapons and suicide vests storm their targeted building and fight until the police engage them.
Even as the Taliban stretch Afghan forces throughout the country, with fighting raging across multiple provinces, complex urban attacks remain crucial to their insurgency. The pattern is often the same: After a vehicle-borne explosion creates chaos and an entry to their target building, militants equipped with weapons and suicide vests storm in and fight until the police, and the elite Crisis Response Unit, kill them and clear the area.
The urban attacks bring the insurgents what even major battlefield gains in remote areas of the country cannot: headlines, and a disruption of daily life that increases pressure on the government.The urban attacks bring the insurgents what even major battlefield gains in remote areas of the country cannot: headlines, and a disruption of daily life that increases pressure on the government.
President Ashraf Ghani condemned Tuesday’s violence in “the strongest terms,” and the chief executive of the Afghan government, Abdullah Abdullah, visited the site of the attack, saying it showed “the depth of barbarity and terror of Afghanistan’s enemies.”
He said the country’s defense and security forces had remained on alert because the Taliban had clearly rejected “our calls for peace.”
The United Nations Mission in Afghanistan condemned the attack in strong language on Tuesday.
“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.”
Eyewitnesses described the mayhem after the attack. One of the wounded, Sadiqullah, 25, said more than a dozen vehicles near him had been badly damaged, and their drivers and passengers injured or killed.
“I saw people lying on the road hopelessly — some screaming, others silently giving out their last breath and some already dead.”
Mr. Sadiqullah, who runs a tea shop and, like many Afghans, goes by one name, said the blast was “so strong that I felt it struck me or my shop personally.”
Muhammad Amir, 13, said the explosion scattered all the items in the auto repair shop where he works. “My uncle got a head wound, and my brother is still missing,” he said. “I hope he has survived the attack, like I did.”