Ambulance bomb kills 40, wounds 140 in Kabul attack,Taliban claims responsibility

An ambulance packed with explosives blew up in a crowded area of Kabul today, killing at least 40 people and wounding 140 others, officials said, in an attack claimed by the Taliban.

The explosion -- one of the biggest since a truck bomb ripped through the Afghan capital's diplomatic quarter on May 31 last year -- triggered chaotic scenes as terrified people fled the area where several high-profile organisations, including the European Union, have offices.

An AFP reporter saw "lots of dead and wounded" civilians in the nearby Jamuriate hospital where overwhelmed medical staff struggled to treat bloodied men, women and children lying in corridors. 

"The latest toll from Kabul hospitals stands at 40 martyred and 140 wounded," health ministry spokesman Waheed Majroh told AFP.

The force of the



blast shook windows of buildings at least two kilometres away and shattered windows within hundreds of metres of the site.

Some low-rise structures in the vicinity of the explosion also collapsed.

"The suicide bomber used an ambulance to pass through the checkpoints. He passed through the first checkpoint saying he was taking a patient to Jamuriate hospital and at the second checkpoint he was recognised and blew his explosive-laden car," interior ministry deputy spokesman Nasrat Rahimi told AFP.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack on social media -- their second deadly assault in Kabul in the space of a week.

The Italian NGO Emergency said seven dead and 70 injured had been taken to its hospital, with its coordinator Dejan Panic tweeting that it had been a "massacre".