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Afghan President Ashraf Ghani has described a powerful bomb explosion that killed scores of people and injured hundreds more in Kabul's diplomatic zone yesterday as a crime against humanity.
Key points:
- No group has claimed responsibility but Afghanistan suggests the Haqqani network was behind it
- The Australian embassy was damaged and placed on lockdown but no staff were hurt
- The attack has placed a strain on Afghanistan's healthcare system which is in need of supplies
No group has claimed responsibility for the attack that killed at least 80 people and injured over 460 others, but Afghanistan's Intelligence Service says evidence suggests that the Haqqani network, a militant group affiliated with the Taliban, carried out the attack with help from Pakistan.
The Taliban and Pakistan have denied involvement.
Warning: This story contains graphic images
"The terrorists, even in the holy month of Ramadan, the month of goodness, blessing and prayer, are not stopping the killing of our innocent people," Mr Ghani said in a statement.
The Wednesday morning explosion — one of the deadliest in the 16-year Afghanistan war — came at the start of the holy month of Ramadan, shattering windows and blowing doors off their hinges in houses hundreds of metres away.
"A vehicle-borne improvised explosive device detonated near Zanbuq square which is outside the green zone," William Salvin, a spokesman for NATO's resolute support mission in Afghanistan, explained.
The "green zone" is the unofficial name for the Kabul neighbourhood where all the diplomatic and Government facilities are located.
"However the explosion was large enough that it did cause civilian casualties in the vicinity," Mr Salvin said.
The bomb, which was reportedly hidden in a sewage tanker, exploded close to the fortified entrance to the German embassy, blowing out windows the building and wounding some staff, German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel said.
The Australian embassy nearby was also damaged and placed on lockdown — staff were reportedly shaken but unharmed.
"Our embassy is in lockdown," Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade secretary Frances Adamson said following the attack.
"Windows were blown in, even though our embassy was 900 metres away from the site of the detonation of what was a very large bomb."
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull joined a number of other leaders in condemning the attack, writing on Twitter that Australia stood with the people of Afghanistan.
'Shock to the system' but target remains unclear
However, it is still unclear what the exact target was due to the large number of potential targets in the vicinity.
"We cannot say yet exactly what the attack was directed against [as] the explosion was in the diplomatic quarter," a spokeswoman from the German Foreign Ministry said.
"We don't yet have a complete picture ... we have no claim of responsibility, we cannot say for sure how this attack happened and against whom it was directed."
The US State Department said 11 American citizens working as contractors in Afghanistan were injured, but none of their injures were considered life-threatening.
US President Donald Trump has discussed the attack with Afghan President Ghani, while the UN Security Council demanded that those responsible be brought to justice.
"It is a shock to the system," Kabul-based journalist Sune Engel Rasmussen told the ABC, highlighting the strain the large number of casualties has placed on the country's healthcare system where supplies are lacking.
"You could probably say it was targeting foreign embassies — though we're not sure yet — since it happened in the middle of a busy street with civilian traffic, hence the large casualty numbers."
ABC/wires
Topics: unrest-conflict-and-war, world-politics, afghanistan
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