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KABUL: More than 50 women were wounded in Wednesday’s powerful truck bombing in the heart of Kabul, officials said on Thursday, claiming the target of German Embassy.
At least 80 people were killed and 461 others were in the deadly attack in capital Kabul that officials said caused about a billion afghanis loss.
No group has come forward to claim responsibility for the truck suicide bombing in Wazir Akbar Khan diplomatic enclave near Zanbaq Square, but government officials accused the Haqqani Network of involvement.
Najib Danish, acting spokesman to the Ministry of Interior (MoI), told Pajhwok Afghan News that two women and eight policemen were among those killed in yesterday’s attack.
Another 53 women and 10 policemen were injured in the incident. He said, adding no foreign soldier was killed or injured in the attack.
Brig. Gen. Hassan Shah Frogh, 101 Asmayee Police Zone commander, told a press conference here that their initial investigation showed the target of the attack was the German Embassy.
“We had prior information about such an attack, therefore measures were taken for its prevention, but Kabul is a crowded city and is built against the master plan, if septic tanks are not allowed for sanitation, no one would be able to walk in the city due to bad smell,” he said.
He said police were strictly investigating the incident and owners of septic tank companies had been called to help identify the septic tank used in the attack.
Officials said the explosion caused damages to buildings located within a four-kilometer radius.
Abdullah Habibizai, acting Kabul mayor, told reporters that the incident had caused about a billion afghani loss. He said a survey was underway and the amount of losses could increase to four million afghanis.
He added that several government and private buildings were either damaged or totally destroyed in the explosion.
Roshan Telecom, Zanbaq Sabiqa Hotel, Eagger Camp, 1TV, Azizi Bank, German Embassy and Kabul Star Hotel bore the brunt of the situation, he said.
Habibzai said the municipality had cleaned the incident area and initial work on repairing damaged roads, footways and government organs such as Ministry of Foreign Affairs, offices of vice-presidents and office of Government Media and Information Center (GMIC) was underway. -PAJHWOK
