Kabul bombing

This item appears on page 18 of the July 2017 issue.

In Kabul, Afghanistan, on May 31, a suicide bomber detonated a bomb in a large tanker truck amid heavy, rush-hour traffic in the embassy district, killing at least 90 people and injuring more than 400 others. 

The massive explosion left a deep crater outside of the German Embassy, which was damaged. The blast also damaged the French, Japanese and Turkish embassies, injuring embassy staff. A guard at the German Embassy was the only embassy staff member killed in the attack; the others all were civilians. 

As of press time, no group had claimed responsibility for the bomb. The Taliban, an Islamist group active in Afghanistan, announced that they had no involvement.

On June 3, several bombs were detonated during the funeral procession of some of the victims of the May 31 bombing. At least seven people were killed, and dozens of others were injured