Taliban suicide bomber driving ambulance kills 103 in Kabul, wounds hundreds more

A Taliban-sanctioned suicide bomber killed 103 people and wounded 235 more after detonating his explosives-laden ambulance Saturday in the capital of Afghanistan, officials said.

The massive blast in the center of Kabul drew instant global condemnation as the explosion rattled a city terrifyingly covered in thick, dark smoke and dust.

“Insane, inhuman, heinous and a warcrime,” tweeted Afghanistan Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah.

The phony ambulance driver slipped through a security checkpoint by telling police that he was rushing a patient to a nearby hospital.

When the vehicle reached a second checkpoint, he set off the deadly explosion.

“I was in my shop,” Kabul shopkeeper Haji Wali told ABC News. “I heard a big boom. I came out and helped the people wounded. There were many people wounded. People are still laying down on the footpaths close to shops.”

One photo of the carnage caught a man carrying a small child with a bandage wrapped around his head and blood spattered on his hands and face.

Kabul resident Mirwais Yasini told the BBC that he was eating lunch at home when the bomb exploded just a short distance away.

“First of all, we thought it was inside our house,” said Yasini, who walked outside to see bodies scattered around the street. “It is very, very inhumane.”

Authorities warned the death toll was likely to rise as hospital officials reported many of their patients arrived in critical condition.

“We will bring its perpetrators to justice & take necessary measures to avoid such barbarism in the future,” promised Afghan leader Abdullah.

President Trump also condemned the violence while offering his condolences to the victims' and their families.

“Taliban targeted innocent Afghans, brave police in Kabul today ... We will not allow the Taliban to win!,” he tweeted.

 The powerful blast shattered windows on the Jamhuriat hospital, leveled some local businesses and destroyed dozens of vehicles. The explosion occurred near the consulate of the European Union.

Officials confirmed four suspects were arrested for the suicide attack, but provided no details about the plot or those in custody.

The majority of the dead were civilians in the attack near the old Interior Ministry building.

A Taliban spokesman quickly took responsibility for the blast — the latest in a relentless series of January attacks across Afghanistan.

One week earlier, Taliban militants killed 22 people in an assault on an international hotel in Kabul.

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson denounced the Taliban’s use of an ambulance for the bombing as an “inhumane disregard for the people of Afghanistan ... a violation of the most basic international norms.”

The International Red Cross echoed Tillerson’s disgust at the use of a medical vehicle to inflict a terrorist attack.