Afghanistan - Kabul car bomb

Taliban claim Kabul attack, 17 dead

Article published on the 2009-10-08 Latest update 2009-10-08 13:38 TU

The site of the blast in Kabul, 8 October 2009
(Photo: Reuters)

The Taliban have claimed Thursday's bombing in Kabul and say that the nearby Indian embassy was "the main target". Officials say that 17 people were killed and 63 injured.

Two police officers and 15 civilians were killed, according to Interior Ministry spokesperson Zemarai Bashary.

The Taliban identified the bomber as "Khalid from Paghman district in Kabul province. Their statement exaggerated the number of lives taken and the damage done, according to journalists on the spot.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai called the perpetrators "barbaric".

"This is a terrorist attack, and an obvious attack on defenceless Afghan civilians," a presidential statement said.

Indian Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao said in New Delhi that the embassy was "obviously" the intended target, although Indian diplomats report that nobody in the embassy was hurt.

"The Indian government is regarded with a high degree of suspicion for its involvement in Afghanistan both within the Pakistani security service but also among the militants themselves," says correspondent Jonathan Boone in Kabul.

The Taliban believe that India works against them both openly and covertly, he told RFI

Last July, 60 people were killed when the Indian embassy was hit by a bomb, an attack blamed on Taliban militant fighters linked to Pakistan's intelligence agencies.