Suicide car bomber kills dozens in Afghanistan

In one of the worst suicide attacks ever to strike the Afghan capital, a car bomber today killed up to 41 people and wounded more than 140 others just outside the Indian Embassy, authorities said.

The blast was apparently aimed at a pair of diplomatic vehicles entering the embassy, but passersby, including women and children, took the brunt of the powerful explosion on a busy thoroughfare in the city center.

Injured people writhed in the street, shrieking, and gray dust filled the air in the wake of the blast, which could be heard across much of the capital. Ambulances rushed to the scene, but some were caught in the capital’s chaotic traffic jams and idled with sirens wailing.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility, though authorities swiftly blamed Taliban militants.

It was not clear why the Indian mission was targeted, although India is a close ally of the Afghan government and works with it on many major aid and infrastructure projects. Afghanistan’s interior ministry is just down the street from the site of the attack.

The Indian government, together with Afghan authorities, condemned the attack. Four Indian nationals, including the embassy’s military attache, were among the dead, according to Afghan and Indian officials.

The explosion, which was the deadliest to strike Kabul since a bus bombing last September that killed 30 people, blew off the embassy’s gates and damaged its perimeter walls. At the time of the blast, there was a long line of Afghans outside the building waiting to apply for or pick up visas.

Several shops just down the street were wrecked by the force of the explosion, and patrons and shopkeepers were among the injured and dead.

At nearby hospitals, there were wrenching scenes as people searched for loved ones. A distraught 20-year-old man named Jalauddin, bleeding from cuts, said he and his brother were in the area when the explosion hit.

“Now I cannot find him,” he said, weeping.

Special correspondent Faiez reported from Kabul and staff writer King from Dubai.

 laura.king@latimes.com