Death toll reaches 100 in Kabul's car attack

Kabul/New Delhi: Nearly 100 people were killed and over 160 wounded in the Afghan capital on Saturday after an ambulance packed with explosives blew up in a crowded area at the city centre, officials said. Most of the casualties are civilians.

The Taliban has claimed responsibility for the attack.India condemned the barbaric and dastardly attack and said it stood in solidarity with the government and the people of Afghanistan at this difficult time.“We convey our heartfelt condolences to the next of kin of victims of these terror attacks and pray for speedy recovery to those injured,” said the Ministry of External Affairs. 

“There can be no justification for such reprehensible attacks. The perpetrators of these attacks and their supporters should be brought to justice,” the MEA said.
Further, it offered all possible assistance, including treatment of those injured. 

In a separate statement, President Ramnath Kovind also condemned the attack.
The incident took place on Saturday afternoon after explosives laden in an ambulance was detonated between two checkpoints outside the old Ministry of Interior building close to Sedarat Square.

The explosion shook building kilometers away. Extensive damage has been caused to the buildings in the blast area.Healthy ministry spokesman Mohammad Ismayeel Kawosi confirmed the casualty figures and said the wounded had been admitted to different hospitals across the city.Kabul's key Emergency Hospital said it was filled to capacity and could not take in any more wounded.

This bombing is the latest in a string of deadly attacks across Afghanistan in the past week, including the 17-hour siege last Saturday on the Intercontinental Hotel and the attack on the Save The Children organization in Jalalabad. Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti also condemned the suicide attack.

“Strongly condemn the suicide car bomb attack in the Afghan capital. We all must unite to vanquish this nexus of terror. My thoughts & prayers go out to the victims & their families,” she wrote in the micro blogging site Twitter.(UNI)