Huge car bomb in Kabul kills at least 80 people

At least 80 people have been kiled and hundreds more injured after a huge car bomb exploded in the Afghan capital, Kabul.

Basir Mujahid, a spokesman for Kabul police, told reporters that a suicide car bomb detonated near the entrance to the German embassy at around 8.30am during the morning rush hour.

The explosion targeted the main diplomatic area which is home to key buildings including the presidential palace and many foreign embassies, including the British embassy.

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The blast destroyed 50 vehicles and shattered doors and windows hundreds of metres away, BBC reports.

Kabul’s police chief General Hassan Shah Frogh said the explosives had been in a tanker truck used to empty septic wells.

"The blast was so huge that it dug a big crater as deep as four meters," he said.

Photographs from the scene of the explosion "showed smoke and chaos, with bloodied people lying around as emergency personnel tried to evacuate victims," the New York Times reports.

Reuters says "there was no immediate claim of responsibility for the blast", adding "a spokesman for Taliban insurgents said he was gathering information".

Wahidullah Majrooh, a spokesman for the Health Ministry, said 80 dead bodies and 350 wounded people had been brought to hospitals.