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| Security Checkpoint at the site |
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| People carries a dead person out of the blasting area |
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| Smoke can be seen at a distance of 2 miles from the blast |
Interior ministry spokesman Nasrat Rahimi said the bomber used the ambulance to pass through one checkpoint, saying he was taking a patient to a nearby hospital.
When he reached the second checkpoint, he was recognized so that he blew up the ambulance, killed at least 95 people and injured more than 158 in the heavily fortified heart of the Afghan capital, Kabul, in the latest in a string of high-profile attacks. At that time the streets were crowded. Witnesses said bodies were strewn across the pavement.
Read this news from Khaleeitimes at: https://www.khaleejtimes.com/region//explosion-rocks-kabul-leaving-95-dead
Read this news from Khaleeitimes at: https://www.khaleejtimes.com/region//explosion-rocks-kabul-leaving-95-dead
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An explosives-packed ambulance blew up in a crowded area of Kabul on Saturday, killing at least 95 people and wounding 158 others, officials said, in one of the biggest blasts to rock the war-torn city in recent years.
It came as both the insurgents and the Islamic State group have escalated their attacks on Kabul, one of the deadliest places in Afghanistan for civilians.
An AFP reporter saw "lots of dead and wounded" civilians in the Jamuriate hospital, which is metres away from the blast and where medical staff struggled to treat the bloodied men, women and children lying on the floor in corridors.
The Taliban has claimed responsibility for the suicide attack in Kabul that has left at least 95 dead. AAP
Health ministry spokesman Waheed Majroh told AFP that the toll "now stands at 95 dead, 158 wounded", shortly after the interior ministry warned that an earlier death toll of 63 could rise.
The blast happened in an area where several high-profile organisations, including the European Union, have offices. Members of the EU delegation in Kabul were in their "safe room" and there were no casualties, an official told AFP.
The force of the explosion shook windows of buildings at least two kilometres (more than a mile) away and caused some low-rise structures in the immediate vicinity to collapse.
The blast happened in an area where several high-profile organisations, including the European Union, have offices. Members of the EU delegation in Kabul were in their "safe room" and there were no casualties, an official told AFP.
The force of the explosion shook windows of buildings at least two kilometres (more than a mile) away and caused some low-rise structures in the immediate vicinity to collapse.
'Unjustifiable'
The suicide bomber passed through at least one checkpoint in the ambulance, saying he was taking a patient to Jamuriate hospital, an interior ministry spokesman told AFP.
"At the second checkpoint he was recognised and blew his explosive-laden car," Nasrat Rahimi said.
Rahimi told a news conference that most of the victims were civilians. He said the Taliban-affiliated Haqqani Network was responsible and four suspects had been arrested.
Twenty minutes before the blast an AFP reporter saw police checking ambulances several hundred metres from the scene of the explosion, as the drivers and patients stood on the street. Ambulances are rarely checked in the city.
An injured man arrives at a hospital after the suicide attack in Kabul. AP
"At the second checkpoint he was recognised and blew his explosive-laden car," Nasrat Rahimi said.
Rahimi told a news conference that most of the victims were civilians. He said the Taliban-affiliated Haqqani Network was responsible and four suspects had been arrested.
Twenty minutes before the blast an AFP reporter saw police checking ambulances several hundred metres from the scene of the explosion, as the drivers and patients stood on the street. Ambulances are rarely checked in the city.
An injured man arrives at a hospital after the suicide attack in Kabul. APHạnh Dương
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