A massive explosion rocked a highly secure diplomatic area of Kabul on Wednesday morning, killing at least 40 people and wounding as many as 300, The New Diplomat confirmed from Agency Report
The huge explosion went off close to the German embassy in the Wazir Akbar Khan area of the capital on Wednesday morning, sending clouds of black smoke spiralling into the sky near the presidential palace and foreign embassies.
Witnesses described dozens of cars choking the roads as wounded survivors and panicked schoolchildren sought safety, with men and woman struggling to get through security checkpoints to search for loved ones.
The explosion occurred at the peak of Kabul’s rush hour when roads are packed with commuters.
Several people were killed and wounded in the blast near the fortified entrance to the German embassy, said Basir Mujahid a spokesman for Kabul police.
“It was a car bomb near the German embassy, but there are several other important compounds and offices near there too. It is hard to say what the exact target is,” Mujahid said.
It is unclear whether German embassy staff in Kabul were injured or hurt when a huge car bomb exploded in its vicinity, a security source told Reuters.
A French minister, Marielle de Sarnez, said its embassy had been damaged but it was not known if there were any French victims. India’s foreign minister, Sushma Swaraj, tweeted that its staff were safe.
Najib Danish, deputy spokesman for the Afghan interior ministry, initially said at least 50 people were killed or wounded but later became inconsistent with the figures.
While embassies and government buildings in the area are located behind fortified security walls, the road where the car bomb detonated is open to the public. Connecting two main traffic circles, the strip is always busy with civilian pedestrians and drivers, particularly in he morning. Elias Naser, a clerk at the nearby Azizi Bank, said it was the first time he had experienced an explosion up close.
“First, it felt like an earthquake, then everything came down, windows, the ceiling,” he said. “The electricity cut out.”
Houses hundreds of metres away from the explosion were damaged with windows and doors blown off their hinges. The blast was loud enough to wake some residents. Reports from journalists inside Kabul said the explosion shook their houses and shattered windows.
