Bombing in Kabul Hits Indian Embassy

At 8:30 am this morning the Indian Embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan was hit with a large car bomb killing 12 and injuring over 70 people. Some of the dead and injured are Afghan police, UNOPS personnel and Afghans walking to work. Two UNOPS vehicles driving past the time of the explosion were damaged. Twenty five feet away lay the burnt headless torso of an Afghan policeman lying in a pool of his own blood. The death toll will mostly be Afghan as a Millie Bus was extensively damaged with an unknown number injured.

The suicide bomber aimed for the gate of the Indian Embassy leaving a 4 foot deep crater. A large section of an older style Texas barrier located in front of the gate for protection was cleaved open. The burnt frame of the suicide vehicle was blown across the street into a ditch with the lower half of the suicide bomber still seated in the front seat. The Passport office was damaged and foreigners may have been injured; as visitors queue up early in the morning to turn in passports for visa extensions before the 10:00 am deadline.

Damage from this morning’s car bomb was similar in strength and devastation to the bombing at ISAF HQ gate in August. After the ISAF bombing, improvements in security were added to the Ministry of Interior (MOI) with the most obvious improvement being a half-mile long concrete divide, comprised of newer style T-barriers, extending down the street up to the point of today’s bombing. This new barrier showed little damage from today’s blast.

In Pakistan the police are a favorite Al Qaeda target. Their tactics have included delayed second bombs striking emergency personnel at bombing scenes and at police hospitals as the injured were brought in. It was a fear today as the scene was quickly overrun with over 250 ANP running from the ANP HQ and the MOI nearby. Confusion and anger overtook the crowd as the scene was secured and procedures for collecting evidence began. Members of Parliament appeared to witness the damage leaving soon after visibly disturbed by what they saw. Yet in all this confusion and pain, a three man Afghan team did their assigned jobs. Humble and focused, clothed in green scrubs and latex gloves these quiet men moved through the crowd picking up fist-size body parts and placing them in a bloody bag—a bag already expanded beyond its normal capacity.