KABUL, Afghanistan | Afghan authorities are on the lookout for suicide bombers in cars, burqas and other disguises after a massive attack on the Indian Embassy on Monday - the biggest attack in the capital since the fall of the Taliban in 2001.
“No one is safe in Kabul,” said Awad Salar, an employee of the post office across the street.
“The insurgents seem to grow stronger by the day. … I´m actually concerned that it´s not going to end here,” said Mr. Salar, who arrived on the scene moments after the explosion.
A series of U.S. and Afghan intelligence reports obtained by The Washington Times hours after the attack warned of more to come.
Officials put the death toll at 41, with at least 157 injured.
One U.S. report dated July 5 said Taliban insurgents are planning multiple attacks in Kabul, reflecting a similar assessment obtained in late June and previously reported by The Washington Times.
“Two female suicide bombers wearing burqas planning an attack” inside the city, said the July 5 security report outlining threats in Afghanistan.
“The threat of a spectacular attack will remain for the coming weeks as the offensive gains momentum. The presence of large totals of insurgents in the provinces surrounding Kabul is a clear indication of insurgents intent to suffocate Kabul,” the report said.
Afghan police recovered and defused a “Remote Controlled Improvised Explosive Device” on July 1 at a bus stop in central Kabul, the report said.
“VBIED warning issued” for numerous districts in the city, said a July 4 bulletin to the Afghan National Police and the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force, according to the U.S. report.
VBIED is an acronym for “vehicle borne improvised explosive device,” a car bomb that can be either detonated remotely or blown up by the driver.
The driver on Monday cut into a motorcade heading to the Indian Embassy and blew up the car.
“The suicide bomber was driving a Toyota Corolla in front of the Indian Embassy, which we believe was the target of the attack,” Interior Ministry spokesman Hakim Asher said. His ministry is adjacent to the embassy.
“These types of incidents are the enemy of Afghanistan. The enemy is always trying to bring insecurity to the region and the Afghan people,” he said.
Other Afghan military and government sources, however, said they were not sure whether the terrorist intended to hit the embassy or the ministry.
An attack on the embassy would illustrate Afghanistan’s role as a proxy for longtime rivals India and Pakistan.
Wire service reports said Afghan officials were accusing Pakistani intelligence operatives of involvement in the bombing, and Pakistani officials were quick to condemn the attack and all forms of terrorism.
No one claimed responsibility for the blast.
“Whenever we do a suicide attack, we confirm it,” Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid told the Associated Press. “The Taliban did not do this one.”
The 8:30 a.m. blast could be heard and felt miles away. Plumes of dark smoke filled the sky, and the streets of central Kabul were splattered with blood, body parts and shattered glass. Reports of a second suicide bomber dressed in an Afghan army uniform sent police scrambling to prevent another attack.
Ali Zaki, whose office at the Afghan Chamber of Commerce and Industry was less than a block from the bombing, said victims were shouting for help.
“There was blood everywhere and people ran in all directions. One man ran away screaming with a piece of shrapnel sticking from his head,” said Mr. Salar, the post office employee. “I saw another person crushed by bricks from the collapsed front of the building.”
“It was horrible. Body parts and blood is all I could see,” said Ahmed Massoud, another witness.
Ambulances rushed through the city with sirens blaring to pick up the injured and transport them to hospitals.
In New Delhi, Indian Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee told the AP that the embassy’s military attache and another diplomat were killed.
In Washington, the Bush administration sent condolences.
“Extremists continue to show their disregard for all human life and their willingness to kill fellow Muslims as well as others,” said White House spokesman Gordon Johndroe. “The United States stands with the people of Afghanistan and India as we face this common enemy.”
The embassy attack was the sixth suicide bombing in Kabul this year, according the AP, which monitors casualties based on official reports.
The capital has largely been spared spectacular attacks, but a February bombing in Kandahar killed more than 100 people at a dogfight.
Insurgent violence has killed more than 2,200 people, mostly militants, in Afghanistan thus far in 2008, according to the AP.
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