A suicide car bomb Saturday ripped through a crowded area outside a government building in Kabul, Afghanistan, killing at least 17 people and wounding more than 100 others.
Thick, dark smoke could be seen rising into the sky from the central part of the capital following the explosion near the old Afghan Interior Ministry building, witnesses said.
An Afghan Interior Ministry spokesman, Nasrat Rahimi, confirmed the casualties to VOA, saying the bomber used an explosives-filled ambulance to carry out the attack in an area where civilians had gathered in large number.
Unconfirmed reports, however, said the death toll is much higher than what Afghan officials reported.
The Taliban instantly took responsibility for plotting the attack. A spokesman for the insurgent group said the target was a crowd of personnel of the Afghan security force.
The deadly bombing came a week after five heavily armed Taliban suicide bombers stormed Kabul's Intercontinental Hotel in a highly secured part of the city. The raid killed at least 22 people, including 14 foreigners. At least four Americans were among the dead.
一枚自杀式汽车炸弹周六在阿富汗首都喀布尔一栋政府大楼外的一处人群密集区爆炸，造成至少17人死亡，100多人受伤。
有目击者称，在阿富汗内政部旧楼附近发生这场爆炸后，可以看到有浓烟从首都中心地区升起。
阿富汗内政部一位发言人拉希米向美国之音证实了伤亡情况，并表示炸弹袭击者使用一辆充满爆炸物的救护车在一处平民大量聚集的地区发动了此次袭击。
然而有未经证实的报道称，死亡人数比阿富汗官方报告的要高得多。
“塔利班”组织迅速宣称对策划这场袭击负责。该反叛组织一名发言人称袭击目标是一群阿富汗安全部队的成员。
在这场致命的炸弹袭击发生一周前，塔利班组织五名自杀式炸弹手对位于高度戒备区域内的喀布尔洲际酒店发动袭击，造成包括14名外国人在内的至少22人死亡。死者中包括自少四名美国人。