Indian Embassy targeted in Kabul, 41 dead

Kabul, Jul 7: Four Indians and an Indian Foreign Services (IFS) officer among 41 people are reported dead in a bomb blast near Indian Embassy in Afghanistan's capital Kabul on Monday, July 7.

Afghan Defense Ministry spokesman Gen. Mohammad Zahir Azimi said he counted five people dead at the scene of the blast. Two of them were embassy security guards, he said. According to the sources, the death toll may rise. The embassy is in the center of Kabul, across from the interior ministry and close to several other government buildings. The blast sent plumes of smoke into the air and was heard for miles across the city. A man who answered the phone at the Indian embassy abruptly hung up, saying, "We are not fine. All communications have been cut off."

Indian military attache Brigadier R D Mehta and press counsellor V Venkat Rao along with two Indo-Tibetan Border Police personnel - Ajai Pathania and Roop Singh - posted at the Embassy were declared dead. According to reports 141 people have also been injured in the attack.

External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee called for an emergency meeting of top officials in Delhi minutes after getting news of the bomb attack.

OneIndia News