Kabul bombing: Death toll jumps to 150, one week after attack
By Ben Westcott, CNN
Updated
5:00 AM EDT, Tue June 6, 2017
PHOTO:
Muslim Shirzad/Twitter
Now playing
00:46
Kabul: Footage shows scene minutes after blast
Alleged Taliban fighters and other militants stand handcuffed while being presented to the media at a police headquarters in Jalalabad on March 6, 2018.
Afghan police said over 17 alleged Taliban militants including two Pakistani nationals were arrested during a five-week operation in Nangarhar province. / AFP PHOTO / NOORULLAH SHIRZADA (Photo credit should read NOORULLAH SHIRZADA/AFP/Getty Images)
PHOTO:
NOORULLAH SHIRZADA/AFP/AFP/Getty Images
Now playing
01:21
The Taliban: How it began, and what it wants
PHOTO:
CNN
Now playing
00:50
Pence: Proud of US troops in Afghanistan
Now playing
00:50
Trump on Afghanistan plan: 'Attack we will'
US President Donald Trump speaks during his address to the nation from Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall in Arlington, Virginia, on August 21, 2017.
Trump said a rapid Afghan exit would leave 'vacuum' for terrorists. / AFP PHOTO / Nicholas Kamm (Photo credit should read NICHOLAS KAMM/AFP/Getty Images)
PHOTO:
NICHOLAS KAMM/AFP/Getty Images
Now playing
02:08
The pillars of Trump's Afghanistan strategy
CAMP BLESSING, AFGHANISTAN - OCTOBER 22: Artilerymen await coordinates before firing a 155mm Howlitzer on a Taliban position October 22, 2008 from Camp Blessing in the Kunar Province of eastern Afghanistan. Their unit, Charlie Battery, 3rd Battalion of the 321 Field Artilery, has fired more than 5,900 shells since it deployed to Afghanistan less than a year ago, making it the busiest artilery unit in the U.S. Army, according to to military officers. They most often fire in support of Army infantry units battling Taliban insurgents in the nearby Korengal Valley, site of some of the heaviest fighting in Afghanistan. (Photo by John Moore/Getty Images)
PHOTO:
John Moore/Getty Images
Now playing
00:54
Trump: US in Afghanistan to kill terrorists
US President Donald Trump speaks during his address to the nation from Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall in Arlington, Virginia, on August 21, 2017.
Trump warned Monday that a hasty exit from Afghanistan would create a "vacuum" that would benefit America's jihadist foes, in a major policy address on his strategy in the 16-year conflict. / AFP PHOTO / Nicholas Kamm (Photo credit should read NICHOLAS KAMM/AFP/Getty Images)
PHOTO:
NICHOLAS KAMM/AFP/Getty Images
Now playing
00:42
Trump calls terrorists 'losers'
President Donald Trump speaks at Fort Myer in Arlington Va., Monday, Aug. 21, 2017, during a Presidential Address to the Nation about a strategy he believes will best position the U.S. to eventually declare victory in Afghanistan. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
PHOTO:
Carolyn Kaster/AP
Now playing
01:21
Trump: Our support is not a blank check
Now playing
00:45
Trump acknowledges flip-flop on Afghanistan
PHOTO:
POOL
Now playing
01:04
Trump: Love for America requires love for all
president trump afghanistan war plan troop address_00003227.jpg
PHOTO:
CNN
Now playing
01:34
Trump: We produce a special class of heroes
US President Donald Trump walks by as reporters shout questions to him upon his arrival on the South Lawn at the White House on August 14, 2017 in Washington, DC. Later today President Trump will be meeting from Attorney General Jeff Sessions and FBI Director Christopher Wray regarding this weekendÕs events in Charlottesville, Virginia. (Mark Wilson/Getty Images)
PHOTO:
Mark Wilson/Getty Images
Now playing
02:24
Will Trump send more troops to Afghanistan?
WASHINGTON, DC - JUNE 13: U.S. Defense Secretary James Mattis testifies before the Senate Armed Services Committee during a hearing in the Dirksen Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill June 13, 2017 in Washington, DC. Mattis and other Pentagon leaders testified about the proposed FY2018 National Defense Authorization Budget Request. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
PHOTO:
Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
Now playing
01:25
Mattis: New Afghanistan strategy decided
PHOTO:
Getty Images
Now playing
01:27
US troops in Afghanistan: A history (2017)
An injured man is transported after a car bomb attack in western Kabul, Afghanistan, on Monday, July 24.
PHOTO:
WAKIL KOHSAR/AFP/Getty Images
Now playing
00:46
Dozens killed in Kabul car bombing
PHOTO:
CNN
Now playing
02:52
Marines remaining in Afghanistan face hardship
Story highlights
The bombing took place on a busy street in Kabul's diplomatic quarter
Hundreds of people, including women and children, were injured in the attack
(CNN) —
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.
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.
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.
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.
“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.”
Photos: A suicide bomb attack targets Kabul's diplomatic zone
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.
PHOTO:
SHAH MARAI/AFP/Getty Images
Photos: Syria's civil war, in pictures
Photos: A suicide bomb attack targets Kabul's diplomatic zone
A wounded man is helped away from the scene of the attack, which struck in the midst of Kabul's morning rush hour.
PHOTO:
SHAH MARAI/AFP/Getty Images
Photos: A suicide bomb attack targets Kabul's diplomatic zone
Women covered in blood stand dazed in the aftermath of the attack near Kabul's highly secure diplomatic area.
PHOTO:
SHAH MARAI/AFP/Getty Images
Photos: A suicide bomb attack targets Kabul's diplomatic zone
An injured man receives aid following the attack.
PHOTO:
SHAH MARAI/AFP/Getty Images
Photos: A suicide bomb attack targets Kabul's diplomatic zone
Bystanders help evacuate people from the area of the explosion.
PHOTO:
SHAH MARAI/AFP/Getty Images
Photos: A suicide bomb attack targets Kabul's diplomatic zone
Security forces gather near the site of the attack.
PHOTO:
Massoud Hossaini/AP
Photos: A suicide bomb attack targets Kabul's diplomatic zone
People help an injured man following the attack.
PHOTO:
Rahmat Gul/AP
Photos: A suicide bomb attack targets Kabul's diplomatic zone
Victims' bodies are placed in the back of a police truck at a hospital in Kabul.
PHOTO:
WAKIL KOHSAR/AFP/Getty Images
Photos: A suicide bomb attack targets Kabul's diplomatic zone
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."
PHOTO:
Massoud Hossaini/AP
Photos: A suicide bomb attack targets Kabul's diplomatic zone
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.
PHOTO:
HEDAYATULLAH AMID/EPA
Photos: A suicide bomb attack targets Kabul's diplomatic zone
Volunteers carry the body of a victim to the Wazir Akbar Khan Hospital in Kabul.
PHOTO:
WAKIL KOHSAR/AFP/Getty Images
Photos: A suicide bomb attack targets Kabul's diplomatic zone
A mangled vehicle is lifted out of the wreckage after the explosion.
PHOTO:
HEDAYATULLAH AMID/EPA
Photos: A suicide bomb attack targets Kabul's diplomatic zone
A man wounded in the car bomb attack is treated at a hospital in Kabul.
PHOTO:
WAKIL KOHSAR/AFP/Getty Images
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.”
