Kabul bombing: Death toll jumps to 150, one week after attack

The death toll in one of Afghanistan’s worst terrorist attacks has jumped from 90 to at least 150, President Ashraf Ghani said, one week after the enormous blast shook Kabul.

The huge suicide blast ripped through rush hour traffic in the Kabul diplomatic quarter on May 31, near the Germany Embassy and the Afghan presidential palace.

At least 300 people, including women and children, were injured in the explosion, Ghani said while speaking at the Kabul Process meeting.

Photos from the day showed a huge cloud of black smoke, rising from the smoldering wrecks of dozens of vehicles.

It was one of the deadliest attacks in the country since the start of the war in Afghanistan in 2001, which was triggered by the US invasion is search of 9/11 mastermind Osama Bin Laden.

More than 15 years after the invasion, there appears to be no end to the conflict, with an emboldened Taliban fighting an insurgent campaign against Afghan security forces.

The Taliban denied involvement in the attack, but Afghan intelligence said in a statement they believe the Haqqani Network, a Pakistani group aligned with the Taliban, was behind it.

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Haqqani may be to blame for Afghanistan attack

02:36 - Source: CNN

Bomb concealed in water truck

The bomb detonated early in the morning in one of the busiest parts of town, near big supermarkets and shops, where streets were packed with commuters including children going to school.

It appears the bomb was hidden inside a water delivery truck.

“Our prayers are with the victims and their families of this inhuman and cowardly attack,” a tweet from the office of President Ghani said after the attack.

“May Allah strengthen all those working for peace. Our thoughts are with the families of deceased & prayers with the injured.”

Afghan security forces patrol the site of a deadly suicide bomb attack in Kabul, Afghanistan, on Wednesday, May 31. The blast struck near the German Embassy, according to Afghan officials.

A wounded man is helped away from the scene of the attack, which struck in the midst of Kabul's morning rush hour.

Women covered in blood stand dazed in the aftermath of the attack near Kabul's highly secure diplomatic area.

An injured man receives aid following the attack.

Bystanders help evacuate people from the area of the explosion.

Security forces gather near the site of the attack.

People help an injured man following the attack.

Victims' bodies are placed in the back of a police truck at a hospital in Kabul.

Office workers leave the site of the suicide attack. German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel said the attack was "aimed at civilians and those who are in Afghanistan to work with the people there for a better future of the country."

German and Afghan authorities inspect the scene of the blast. German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel said the attack was in the "immediate vicinity" of the nation's embassy. "In the attack, officials of the German Embassy were also injured. In the meantime, all employees are safe," Gabriel said.

Volunteers carry the body of a victim to the Wazir Akbar Khan Hospital in Kabul.

A mangled vehicle is lifted out of the wreckage after the explosion.

A man wounded in the car bomb attack is treated at a hospital in Kabul.

A suicide bomb attack targets Kabul's diplomatic zone

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Hundreds of Afghans lined up after the attack to give blood in the wake of the bombing, Layma Tabibi, an Afghan-American who works at a local consulting firm, told CNN at the time.

Tabibi heard the blast and said a lot of casualties appeared to be from the Roshan telecommunications company.

“Afghans. It’s always Afghans,” she said, when asked who suffered in such attacks. “It’s always Afghans that are harmed and get killed, rather than who the attacker wants to target.”