A suicide bomber packed an ambulance with explosives and drove toward a hospital in central Kabul, detonating his load in a busy area Saturday. The attack left at least 95 people dead and 158 wounded, according to Afghan officials who spoke at a government news briefing.
The New York Times reports that Taliban insurgents have claimed responsibility for the attack, which they said targeted police guarding a road leading to the former Interior Ministry in an area densely populated with civilians.
The “majority of the casualties are civilians,” Interior Ministry spokesman Nasrat Rahimi said. A “few police soldiers in the checkpoint lost their lives.” Rahimi said the bomber driving the ambulance pretended to be going to the nearby Jamhuriat Hospital.
The bomb destroyed cars and shattered windows of nearby buildings and homes. A thick plume of smoke rose above the site of the attack.
Most of the victims were civilians going to the Interior Ministry for paperwork, to the hospital, and for errands on Chicken Street, an area with shops selling antiques and carpets.
Foreign embassies are on the road where the attack occurred, but no foreigners were reported among the casualties.
Mohammad Fahim, a 20-year-old working with Kabul police, was lightly wounded on one hand and on his feet. He was on his way to the Interior Ministry to file paperwork with the human resources department when the bomb went off.
“I heard a boom when I was waiting in the mosque inside the [Interior Ministry] building, waiting for my turn. The mosque’s windows shattered. Me and about 40 people inside the mosque were wounded lightly by glass shrapnel,” he said.
“I rushed outside to help the victims, I think about 30 were killed and countless were wounded. . . . I helped evacuate five wounded [to nearby hospitals]. I have not seen such a horrible scene in my entire life,” he said. “Body bits were scattered around.”
