Afghanistan Car Bomb Kills More Than 100; Worst Violence in Years

FEATURING DOUGLAS WISSING – At least 80, and some are estimating 90, people died in a horrific car bomb in the Afghan capital Kabul this week. The bombing, which left a 13-foot crater, took place near the so-called Green Zone where international embassies and foreign workers are concentrated.

The German Embassy suffered the most damage. The bombing was close enough to the Presidential palace that it shattered the palace windows. Afghan President Ashraf Ghani called the attack a “crime against humanity.” According to news reports, most of the bomb’s victims were ordinary Afghans on their way to work. The Taliban has claimed it was not responsible.

It was one of the deadliest attacks in Afghanistan over the course of the nearly 16-year old war. In 2015 a similar attack took place in another Kabul neighborhood when a bomb in a truck detonated killing a number of people and injuring hundreds.

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Douglas Wissing, author of “Hopeless but Optimistic: Journeying through America’s Endless War in Afghanistan,” and “Funding the Enemy: How U.S. Taxpayers Bankroll the Taliban.” His work has appeared in The Washington Post, The New York Times, Los Angeles Times and Foreign Policy.