Kabul bomb attack: Pakistan's ISI behind blast which kills 90, Afghanistan govt to India Today

In an exclusive conversation with India Today, Afghanistan government has blamed Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and the banned terror group - the Haqqani network - for Wednesday's massive bomb explosion in Kabul's diplomatic area which killed at least 90 people and wounded around 450 others.

Afghanistan Interior Ministry spokesperson Sediq Siddiqui said, "We have nailed Pakistan's ISI role (in Kabul blast). Afghanistan expects Pakistan to crack down on Haqqani network. The attack will surely impact ties between the two (Afghanistan, Pakistan) countries".

On Wednesday, the suicide bomber drove into Kabul's heavily guarded diplomatic quarter in morning. However, till now no one has claimed the responsibility of one of the major terrorist attacks in the nation.

In scale, it was one of the worst such attacks since the US-led campaign to oust the Taliban in 2001 but in kind, it was only the latest in a grim series that has killed thousands of civilians over the years.

Pakistan's president Mamnoon Hussain said that Pakistanis are saddened over the attack. In his speech to Parliament on Thursday, Hussain condemned Wednesday's extremist attack in Kabul, saying the people and the government of Pakistan will continue to support all efforts aimed at ensuring peace in Afghanistan.

The two nations, Pakistan and Afghanistan had in the past blamed each other for not doing enough against terrorists on their side of border.

The site of the bombing was much nearer to the German and Indian Embassy. India's External Affairs Minister, Sushma Swaraj on Wednesday confirmed over twitter that the Indian staff did not get hurt.