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In photos: Huge explosion kills 80 in Kabul’s diplomatic district, Indian embassy safe

Catch Photodesk | Updated on: 31 May 2017, 17:53 IST
An Afghan security force member stands at the site of a car bomb attack in Kabul on 31 May, 2017. (AFP PHOTO / SHAH MARAI)

A suicide bomb attack killed 80 people and injured more than 300 in Kabul’s Zanqab square, a district that is one of the safest in the Afhgan Capital with blast walls as high as 10ft. The bomb went off at about 08:25 local time near the German embassy.

There are many other important buildings in the area, including the Indian, British and French embassies. The French embassy was reportedly damaged, along with the German embassy. However, there have not been any casualties reported from either consulates.

Meanwhile, India’s Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj shared the information that the staff at the Indian embassy, which is close to the site of the blast, were marked safe. However, glass windows and doors of the Indian Embassy’s building were slightly damaged following the explosion. In fact, Mrs. Swaraj tweeted early morning today, saying, ‘By God's grace, Indian Embassy staff are safe in the massive #Kabul blast.’


While neither IS or Taliban has claimed responsibility for the attack thus far, the attack has been described as “one of the deadliest” since a similar attack last year that killed almost 100 people.

A car bomb attack victim on a stretcher is carried to an ambulance at the site of the blast in Kabul on 31 May, 2017. (AFP PHOTO / SHAH MARAI)
A massive blast rocked Kabul's diplomatic quarter, the latest attack to hit the Afghan capital. (AFP PHOTO / SHAH MARAI)
Afghan security forces personnel are seen at the site of a car bomb attack in Kabul on 31, 2017. (AFP PHOTO / SHAH MARAI)
An Afghan resident wounded in a car bomb attack receives treatment at a hospital in Kabul on 31 May, 2017. (AFP PHOTO / WAKIL KOHSAR)
An Afghan resident stands alongside a man wounded in a car bomb attack at a hospital in Kabul on 31 May, 2017. ( AFP PHOTO / WAKIL KOHSAR)
First published: 31 May 2017, 17:53 IST