International media reports says the death toll from Saturday’s suicide bombing in the Afghan capital, Kabul, rose to 103, as hundreds of people gathered for funerals or awaited word of loved ones outside hospitals and morgues.
The attacker, driving an ambulance filled with explosives, was able to race through a security checkpoint by saying he was transferring a patient to a hospital, according to The Washington Post.
The explosion reportedly damaged or destroyed dozens of shops and vehicles in the heart of the city, near government buildings.
Interior Minister Wais Ahmad Barmak provided the updated death toll on Sunday, saying another 235 people were wounded in the attack. He said police were among those killed and wounded.
He said the attackers drove two ambulances, both of which made it past the checkpoint before one of them turned around and left the area, indicating some of the attackers escaped.
The Taliban reportedly claimed the attack.
Saturday’s bombing took place in the heavily-guarded city center, near a number of foreign embassies and the office of the High Peace Council, which is charged with promoting peace efforts with the Taliban and other groups. The Interior Ministry, which is in charge of the police, also has offices in the area.
The government declared a day of mourning, with shops closed and flags at half-staff.
Media reports say the powerful explosion could be felt across the city and left the surrounding area blanketed in dust and smoke. It came a week after Taliban militants stormed a luxury hotel in Kabul, killing 22 people, including 14 foreigners, and setting off a 13-hour battle with security forces.
“These groups stage these attacks because they can,” Michael Kugelman, deputy director of the US-based Wilson Center's Asia Program was quoted as saying by Independent. According to him, security measures are often lax in Afghan cities, Afghan intelligence gathering capacities are poor, and the terrorists are clever.
Andrew Wilder, Asia Programs vice president at the US Institute of Peace, says another factor is the redeployment of US intelligence, reconnaissance and surveillance assets from Afghanistan to the war against Isis in Iraq and Syria, according to Independent. Recent victories against the extremists in those two countries reportedly could allow those assets to be brought back.
