A Suicide bomber, using an ambulance to conceal the explosives, killed at least 95 people and injured 163 others. The bomb was detonated in the Afghan capital of Kabul Saturday (Jan. 27) near the government's former Interior Ministry building, foreign embassies belonging to the European Union and Indian consulates. A report by the New York Times presented most of the information used in this article.

The area, a shopping zone also known as Chicken Street, was crowded with pedestrians, shortly after noon local time. Witnesses more than half-a-mile away saw the flames and heard the explosion.

Buildings hundreds of feet away were shaken by its force.

Detonated at 2nd Checkpoint

Nasrat Rahimi, the Interior Ministries Deputy Spokesperson, confirmed that the attacker had made it through a security checkpoint by telling police he was taking a patient to a nearby hospital. It was the second checkpoint at which he detonated the device.

Responsibility for the terrorist attack has been claimed by the Taliban, which follows close on the heels of their Intercontinental Hotel in Kabul attack which killed 20 others.

A spokesperson for the Taliban, Zabihullah Mujahid, claimed responsibility. The Afghanistan government, however, is claiming that the Haqqani Network is behind the suicide attack today in Kabul.

The Ministry of External Affairs released a statement condemning the terror attacks on innocent civilians. In the statement, they said “There can be no justification for it.

The perpetrators and their supporters should be brought to justice.“

He also went on to condemn an early attack he labeled “cowardly,“ on civilians and children in Jalalabad on January 24. The Jalalabad attack, perpetrated by gunmen who stormed a Save The Children office, resulted in one dead and at least 14 wounded.

Fight against the forces of terror and evil

With the condemnation of the attacks, they also stated their support for the families of the victims and wished a speedy recovery to the injured. Condolences were also expressed in a tweet today from Ram Nath Kovind, the President of India. “India stands shoulder-to-shoulder with the people and government of Afghanistan in the fight against the forces of terror and evil,“ he said.

A public health ministry spokesman said that 17 dead and 110 wounded were brought to local hospitals so far and more were still coming in.

Coordinator of the Italian aid group Emergency, Dejan Panic, said that their nearby trauma hospital had received more than 50 wounded.

After the explosion, bystanders were seen assisting the wounded while emergency services tried to get through the clogged traffic in the city center.
© ALL RIGHTS RESERVED