A Taliban suicide car bomb hit the Indian Embassy in Kabul today, killing 41 people, including the Indian Defence attache and an IFS officer, and wounding 139, in an attack Afghan authorities said was coordinated with foreign agents in the region, a likely reference to Pakistan.

It is the first major attack on an Indian mission abroad and the deadliest suicide bombing in Kabul since the Taliban were ousted in late 2001. A Taliban spokesman claimed responsibility for the attack.

Defence attache Brigadier R D Mehta and Counsellor Venkateswara Rao, an IFS officer, were killed when the suicide bomber targeted the embassy during the morning rush hour, said Indian Ambassador Jayant Prasad who escaped unhurt in the bombing. Rao’s body was flung over the roof as the explosion blew off the embassy’s gates and outer structure and damaged buildings inside the compound. The embassy is located near the Afghan Interior Ministry.

The other two Indians killed in the attack were identified as ITBP personnel Ajai Pathania and Roop Singh. The fifth embassy employee to die, Niamutullah, was a local Afghan, officials said, adding three Indians were also injured in the blast. Among the dead were seven Afghan guards deployed at the mission.

In New Delhi, External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee said a high-level team, headed by Nalin Surie, Secretary (West), was being rushed to Kabul to assess the “emergency” situation there.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai blamed the “enemies” of the strong friendship between Afghanistan and India for the attack but did not name any person or group.

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