Kabul Car Blast Kills 41, Including Indian Envoys

KABUL, Afghanistan -- A car bomb went off on a crowded street Monday near the Indian Embassy in Afghanistan, killing at least 41 people and wounding more than 100, officials said. Authorities said the attack in the capital of Kabul was the work of a suicide bomber.

Among those killed in the attack Monday was an Indian defense attaché and a political consul, an Indian diplomatic source reported. The person spoke to CNN anonymously because he is not authorized to comment officially.

Also killed were two embassy security guards and seven Afghan police officers, the source added.

The White House condemned the incident as a "needless act of violence."

Spokesman Gordon Johndroe said: "We offer our sincere condolences to those injured and especially to those families who lost loved ones.

"Extremists continue to show their disregard for all human life and their willingness to kill fellow Muslims as well as others. The United States stands with the people of Afghanistan and India, as we face this common enemy."

The blast sent plumes of smoke into the air and was heard for miles across the city.

"We heard an explosion, then the dust and glass hit our faces," a resident near the scene of the blast said. "After that we saw that people were dead and lying everywhere."

Dr. Abdullah Fahim of the Afghan health ministry said 141 people were injured in the blast. Ninety were admitted to hospitals, some of them children.

At least two of the dead were embassy security guards, said defense ministry spokesman Gen. Mohammad Zahir Azimi. The casualty figures do not include the suicide bomber.

The embassy is in the center of Kabul, across from the interior ministry and close to several other government buildings. Dozens of people line up every morning outside the embassy gates to apply for visas to India.

A man who answered the phone at the Indian embassy abruptly hung up, saying, "We are not fine. All communications have been cut off."

The Indian Ministry for External Affairs said the country's ambassador in Kabul was overseeing arrangements for medical assistance.

"We fear that there may be casualties among our personnel and are ascertaining full details," the ministry said in a statement.

Kabul, like the rest of Afghanistan, has been rocked by explosions in recent months. Authorities blame the Taliban -- the Islamic militia that once ruled most of Afghanistan -- and its al Qaeda allies.

On June 1, a remote-controlled bomb targeted a mini-bus carrying Afghan army personnel. The blast killed a woman and wounded five others -- all civilians.

Three days before that, a suicide bomber struck a convoy of international soldiers in eastern Kabul. Three civilians were killed. No soldiers were hurt.