‘Briton killed’ in Kabul bombing
The Foreign Office said a number of staff were hurt when an explosion hit a British Embassy vehicle in the country’s capital Kabul this morning.
At least five people - including one British citizen - died in the attack, the Afghan Interior Ministry was reported to have said.
Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide AdSome reports claimed the attack was staged by a bomber riding a motorcycle, while others suggested a car packed with explosives was rammed into the embassy vehicle.
A Foreign Office spokeswoman said: “We can confirm that a British Embassy vehicle has been attacked in Kabul. A number of staff have been injured.
“We are working with the Afghan authorities to establish details of the incident.”
The explosion caused parts of the city to shake and sent a plume of dust and smoke into the air.
The Taliban were reported to have claimed responsibility.
Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide AdDeputy interior minister General Mohammad Ayub Salangi said: “Foreign vehicles were targeted by a suicide attacker on a motorcycle.”
Photographs shared on social media apparently from the scene showed burning wreckage including a car, debris strewn across the ground and bloodied casualties.
Mustafa Deveci, a journalist in the area, told Sky News the attack took place on a “very busy” road.
He said: “I saw five or six civilian cars were damaged.”
It is the latest in a wave of attacks to hit Kabul as the majority of foreign combat troops withdraw from Afghanistan by the end of the year.
Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide AdIn recent weeks, insurgents have launched attacks on military convoys and compounds housing foreign service companies and their international employees.
British embassies and staff have been targeted in trouble-spots around the world in recent years, with Kabul among them.
In August 2008 a car bomb attack near the embassy in the Afghan capital left four people dead, although none were British personnel.
In November 2011 the embassy in the Iranian capital Tehran was closed after it was stormed by a mob of protesters.
Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide AdIn April 2010 the then British ambassador to Yemen, Tim Torlet, escaped unharmed when a suicide bomber wearing a school uniform detonated an explosives belt as he made his way to work in the capital Sana’a. The following October, his deputy, Fionna Gibb, escaped a rocket attack in the city.
Last year the embassy in the Arab country was closed by the Foreign Office during the Islamic festival Eid, amid ‘’continuing security concerns’’.
On November 2003 the British Consul-General in Turkey, Roger Short, was killed by a suicide car bomb in Istanbul blamed on al Qaida which left 60 others dead and hundreds injured.
Franz-Michael Skjold Mellbin, the European Union’s special representative in Kabul, wrote on Twitter: “Strongly condemn this morning’s indiscriminate attack in Kabul that left many Afghans dead and injured UK colleagues.”
Sir Simon Fraser, head of the UK Diplomatic Service, tweeted: “Shocking news from Kabul of attack on British Embassy vehicle. Working to get full facts. Thoughts with all our people.”