Afghanistan

Suicide bomber targets Nato base in Kabul

Article published on the 2009-08-15 Latest update 2009-08-15 12:17 TU

Nato Isaf soldiers set up a security perimeter around the blast site in downtown Kabul.
(Photo: Ahmad Masood/Reuters)

Five days before Afghanistan’s presidential election, a huge explosion rocked the diplomatic district of the capital on Saturday morning, killing seven people and wounding 91, most of them on their way to work.

The blast went off at 8:30 am, half an hour after hundreds of national embassy and Nato employees arrived at work.

"The blast was so powerful, it was huge, it shook the whole building," said Abdul Raqib, a driver from the nearby ministry of transport who witnessed the blast, told the French news agency AFP.

"Most of the wounded were injured by flying glass, not directly by the blast," said a witness on the scene, the AFP reported.

Taliban threats to disrupt the election and an escalated campaign of violence in the north and south have created a tense atmosphere in the capital, where there have been some minor incidents of violence in recent weeks.

“What made this bombing significant was the area [location] where the bomber could infiltrate easily and make it just steps away from their [Isaf’s] main gate,” said correspondent Sadar Ahmad.

“Kabul was quite calm the past few months. There wasn’t a major attack.  It was kind of peaceful and calm and people were preparing for elections. Then, all of a sudden, such a huge attack takes place,” Ahmad told RFI. “It clearly makes people think that if the bombers could infiltrate that area, which is pretty much secured and fortified, they would definitely infiltrate polling stations.”

French and British foreign ministries were both quick to condemn the attack.

According to the Afghan defence ministry, a suicide car bomb was driven along the leafy street and detonated just metres from the base's main gate.

A Taliban spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid, claimed responsibility for the attack and told the AFP by telephone from an undisclosed location that the vehicle contained 500 kg of explosives.

Isaf spokesman Eric Tremblay said the vehicle was stopped by Afghan security forces at the first layer of checkpoints at the southern end of the street, near a row of red-and-white concrete barricades.

The explosion took place about 150 metres from the entrance to the US embassy at the northern end of the street, which is guarded by US soldiers in armoured vehicles. The embassy was not damaged by the blast.