The bomb went off at about 08:25 local time (03:55 GMT) during rush hour at the diplomatic quarter.
Makeshift ambulances carried wounded away from the scene, as frantic relatives gathered both at the cordoned-off perimeter of the blast site and later at hospitals to try to locate loved ones.
Images showed dozens of blackened and burned out cars. More than 50 vehicles were destroyed.
Basir Mujahid a spokesman for Kabul police, told Reuters news agency the explosion had taken place close to the German embassy but added it was "hard to say what the exact target is".
There are many other key buildings in the area, including the presidential palace and a number of embassies, including the British.
Some reports say the bomb was in a lorry or water tanker. One Western diplomatic source told Agence France-Presse it was packed with more than 1,500kg of explosives
The BBC's Harun Najafizada in Kabul says questions are already being asked about how the vehicle could have penetrated such a heavily fortified area, with its 3m (10ft) high blast walls, to carry out the deadliest attack in the capital in years.
Initial reports suggest civilians bore the brunt of the casualties.
Image copyrightREUTERSImage captionMakeshift ambulances carried people away from the scene
The interior ministry has called on residents to donate blood, saying there was a "dire need".
One local shop owner, Sayed Rahman, told Reuters his store was badly damaged, adding: "I have never seen such a terrible explosion in my life."
Another resident, Abdul Wahid, told the BBC the blast "was like a heavy earthquake".
Image copyrightEPAImage captionThe blast was close to the German embassy, which suffered severe damage
Several international and local sources have been reporting on casualties:
Mohammed Nazir, who worked as a driver for BBC Afghan for more than four years, died in the blast, the BBC confirmed, adding that four of his colleagues were injured. Their injuries are not thought to be life threatening
German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel said employees at the German embassy had been injured and one Afghan security guard had died
French officials said the country's embassy had been damaged but no French casualties reported
The British embassy said all its staff were accounted for
Two Japanese embassy staff members were slightly wounded
Turkey said its embassy was damaged but no-one was hurt
A Tolo journalist also said some of the victims were from the Roshan mobile phone company, but this has not been confirmed
Analysis: Waheed Massoud, BBC Afghan service
I have taken this route many times. This is one of the most heavily fortified areas of Kabul - the so-called Green Zone. There is a boom gate. Every vehicle is stopped and IDs are checked. But the stricter the security, the more insurgents find loopholes and adapt. It is very difficult to say that such attacks will be prevented. They happen in the most secure places on Earth.
We have been told this was a truck, perhaps a tanker that travels to bring water and empty septic tanks. The attackers may have posed as one of the logistics companies that work in this area.
The Taliban have denied the attack. When civilian casualties are high, no-one claims responsibility but this has the hallmarks of others claimed by Taliban insurgents.
Mohammed Nazir
Francesca Unsworth, BBC World Service director: It is with great sadness that the BBC can confirm the death of BBC Afghan driver Mohammed Nazir following the vehicle bomb in Kabul earlier today, as he was driving journalist colleagues to the office. Mohammed Nazir worked as a driver for the BBC Afghan service for more than four years and was a popular colleague. He was in his late thirties and he leaves a young family. This is a devastating loss to the BBC and to Mohammed Nazir's friends and family.
Tony Hall, Director-General: Many of our staff face dangerous situations every day as they report from volatile areas around the world. It's testament to their bravery that we are able to provide trusted, impartial coverage - but consequences like this are devastating for us all. Our thoughts and prayers are with Mohammed's family and many friends at such a very sad time.
What has the reaction been?
Afghan President Ashraf Ghani said he "strongly condemned the cowardly attack in the holy month of Ramadan targeting innocent civilians in their daily life".
Germany's Sigmar Gabriel called the attack "contemptible".
Indian PM Narendra Modi also tweeted his condemnation, saying: "Our thoughts are with the families of the deceased & prayers with the injured."
A Pakistani Foreign Office statement denounced the attack, saying: "Pakistan, being a victim of terrorism, understands the pain and agony that such incidents inflict upon people and society."
Who could have been behind the attack?
The Taliban and the so-called Islamic State in Afghanistan are the main suspects.
However, the Taliban quickly issued a statement denying involvement.
Spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said the group condemned untargeted attacks that caused civilian casualties.
It has made no comment so far on the latest attack.
Media captionThe BBC's Justin Rowlatt visited the site of April's Mazar-e Sharif Taliban attack
When announcing the start of their major spring offensive last month, the Taliban said their main focus would be foreign forces, targeting them with a mix of conventional, guerrilla, insider and suicide attacks.
The US has about 8,400 troops in Afghanistan, with another 5,000 from Nato allies.
The Pentagon has reportedly pressed President Donald Trump to send thousands more troops back to the country to try to counter gains by the Taliban. More than a third of the country is now said to be outside Afghan government control.
A Taliban attack on an Afghan army training compound in the northern city of Mazar-e Sharif last month killed at least 135 soldiers, and led to the resignation of the defence minister and army chief of staff.
Major recent Kabul attacks
Image copyrightEPAImage captionAftermath of the Baqir ul Olum mosque attack in November 2016
Keep these in mind as you contemplate the direction of the American government over the past 50 years and especially since the Obama election.
The Goals of Communism
(as read into the congressional record January 10, 1963, from "The Naked Communist" by Cleon Skousen)
1. U.S. acceptance of coexistence as the only alternative to atomic war.
2. U.S. willingness to capitulate in preference to engaging in atomic war.
3. Develop the illusion that total disarmament of the United States would be a demonstration of moral strength.
4. Permit free trade between all nations regardless of Communist affiliation and regardless of whether or not items could be used for war.
5. Extension of long-term loans to Russia and Soviet satellites.
6. Provide American aid to all nations regardless of Communist domination.
7. Grant recognition of Red China. Admission of Red China to the U.N.
8. Set up East and West Germany as separate states in spite of Khrushchev's promise in 1955 to settle the German question by free elections under supervision of the U.N.
9. Prolong the conferences to ban atomic tests because the United States has agreed to suspend tests as long as negotiations are in progress.
10. Allow all Soviet satellites individual representation in the U.N.
11. Promote the U.N. as the only hope for mankind. If its charter is rewritten, demand that it be set up as a one-world government with its own independent armed forces. (Some Communist leaders believe the world can be taken over as easily by the U.N. as by Moscow. Sometimes these two centers compete with each other as they are now doing in the Congo.)
12. Resist any attempt to outlaw the Communist Party.
13. Do away with all loyalty oaths.
14. Continue giving Russia access to the U.S. Patent Office.
15. Capture one or both of the political parties in the United States.
16. Use technical decisions of the courts to weaken basic American institutions by claiming their activities violate civil rights.
17. Get control of the schools. Use them as transmission belts for socialism and current Communist propaganda. Soften the curriculum. Get control of teachers' associations. Put the party line in textbooks.
18. Gain control of all student newspapers.
19. Use student riots to foment public protests against programs or organizations which are under Communist attack.
20. Infiltrate the press. Get control of book-review assignments, editorial writing, policymaking positions.
21. Gain control of key positions in radio, TV, and motion pictures.
22. Continue discrediting American culture by degrading all forms of artistic expression. An American Communist cell was told to "eliminate all good sculpture from parks and buildings, substitute shapeless, awkward and meaningless forms."
23. Control art critics and directors of art museums. "Our plan is to promote ugliness, repulsive, meaningless art."
24. Eliminate all laws governing obscenity by calling them "censorship" and a violation of free speech and free press.
25. Break down cultural standards of morality by promoting pornography and obscenity in books, magazines, motion pictures, radio, and TV.
26. Present homosexuality, degeneracy and promiscuity as "normal, natural, healthy."
27. Infiltrate the churches and replace revealed religion with "social" religion. Discredit the Bible and emphasize the need for intellectual maturity which does not need a "religious crutch."
28. Eliminate prayer or any phase of religious expression in the schools on the ground that it violates the principle of "separation of church and state."
29. Discredit the American Constitution by calling it inadequate, old-fashioned, out of step with modern needs, a hindrance to cooperation between nations on a worldwide basis.
30. Discredit the American Founding Fathers. Present them as selfish aristocrats who had no concern for the "common man."
31. Belittle all forms of American culture and discourage the teaching of American history on the ground that it was only a minor part of the "big picture." Give more emphasis to Russian history since the Communists took over.
32. Support any socialist movement to give centralized control over any part of the culture--education, social agencies, welfare programs, mental health clinics, etc.
33. Eliminate all laws or procedures which interfere with the operation of the Communist apparatus.
34. Eliminate the House Committee on Un-American Activities.
35. Discredit and eventually dismantle the FBI.
36. Infiltrate and gain control of more unions.
37. Infiltrate and gain control of big business.
38. Transfer some of the powers of arrest from the police to social agencies. Treat all behavioral problems as psychiatric disorders which no one but psychiatrists can understand.
39. Dominate the psychiatric profession and use mental health laws as a means of gaining coercive control over those who oppose Communist goals.
40. Discredit the family as an institution. Encourage promiscuity and easy divorce.
41. Emphasize the need to raise children away from the negative influence of parents. Attribute prejudices, mental blocks and retarding of children to suppressive influence of parents.
42. Create the impression that violence and insurrection are legitimate aspects of the American tradition; that students and special-interest groups should rise up and use united force to solve economic, political or social problems.
43. Overthrow all colonial governments before native populations are ready for self-government.
44. Internationalize the Panama Canal.
45. Repeal the Connally reservation so the United States cannot prevent the World Court from seizing jurisdiction over nations and individuals alike.
No comments:
Post a Comment