A huge truck bomb explosion early Wednesday killed at least 80 people and wounded more than 400 others in Kabul's diplomatic zone, Afghanistan's Ministry of Public Health says.
Officials said, however, that most of the casualties were civilians. Yet in February this year, the United Nations released another round of gut-wrenching statistics on Afghan civilian deaths and injuries, concluding that "Kabul province had the highest number of civilian casualties [in the country] due to suicide and complex attacks in Kabul city". His head wound had been bandaged but blood still soaked his white dress shirt. An Interior Ministry spokesman said more than 30 cars and trucks on the street outside were also destroyed.
The BBC said one of its drivers, an Afghan, was killed driving journalists to work.
In scale, it was one of the worst such attacks since the US-led campaign to oust the Taliban in 2001 but in kind, it was only the latest in a grim series that has killed thousands of civilians over the years. A German diplomat who asked not to be named said some staffers had been injured. "In the meantime, all employees are safe".
"By God's grace, Indian Embassy staff are safe in the massive Kabul blast", India's foreign minister Sushma Swaraj tweeted.
The incident took place after a suicide bomber detonated an explosive device near a military camp. Najib Danish, deputy spokesman for the Interior Ministry, said the suicide vehicle bomber detonated his explosives close to a busy intersection in the Wazir Akbar Khan district. Closer to the explosion it shattered glass in homes, offices and cars.
"We don't know at this moment what was the target", said Danish. "I was lucky because I was in the shower at the time".
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The green zone houses western embassies, government institutions and the residences of high-ranking officials and their families.
President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev has extended his condolences to his Afghani counterpart President Ashraf Ghani on the occasion of the powerful blast in Kabul, Kazinform has learned from the Akorda's press service.
The Pentagon is considering sending additional troops to the country, USA military officials told the Senate Armed Services Committee this month.
The president visited victims of the attack who were being treated in a hospital today; later tonight, he'll address his country on national television to discuss what he called an "inhuman attack".
There are about 8,400 U.S. troops in Afghanistan - a majority of them are involved in training and advising Afghan troops. The Haqqani Network - an extremist group and sometime Taliban ally - remains a strong presence in northeast Afghanistan while the growing influence of ISIS Afghanistan affiliate ISIS-Khorasan became the primary security challenge in eastern Afghanistan.
Afghanistan's war, the longest ever involving U.S. troops, has shown no sign of letting up and the introduction into the battle of an Islamic State group affiliate has made the country only more volatile.
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