Law & Courts

Kabul attack: Taliban kill 95 with ambulance bomb in Afghan capital

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Map of Kabul showing area hit by ambulance bomb on 27 January 2018

A suicide bombing has killed at least 95 people and injured 158 others in the centre of Afghanistan's capital, Kabul, officials say.

What happened in the latest attack?

What did witnesses say?

What was the response?

A man reacts after hearing his son was killed in a Kabul bombing, 27 January 2018
Image captionThe injured and distressed were helped away from the scene

What is the reaction in the rest of the world?

How does it compare to other recent attacks?

a wounded boy with blood on his face being bandaged by medical staff
Image captionMore than 150 people were wounded in the bombing
mangle structures blown halfway down a street, with debris all over the pavements and people crowding around a plume of smoke in the background
Image captionThe area of the attack was a scene of devastation
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Who are the Taliban?

  • The hardline Islamic Taliban movement swept to power in Afghanistan in 1996 after the civil war which followed the Soviet-Afghan war, and were ousted by the US-led invasion five years later, but returned to run some key areas
  • In power, they imposed a brutal version of Sharia law, such as public executions and amputations, and banned women from public life
  • Men had to grow beards and women to wear the all-covering burka; television, music and cinema were banned
  • They sheltered al-Qaeda leaders before and after being ousted - since then they have fought a bloody insurgency which continues today
  • In 2016, Afghan civilian casualties hit a new high - a rise attributed by the UN largely to the Taliban
  • Civilian casualties remained at high levels in 2017, the UN said
Kabul street with smoke in distance
Image captionA plume of smoke from the explosion was seen around the city
hospital corridors filled to the brim
Image captionKabul hospitals were overwhelmed with patients in the aftermath
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Published January 27, 2018

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