Suicide bomber kills 41 in Kabul

KABUL, Afghanistan, July 7 (UPI) -- A suicide bomb exploded Monday on a crowded street near the Indian Embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan, killing at least 41 people and injuring 140, officials said.

Officials said the bomber rammed a car into two Indian diplomatic vehicles as they entered the gates of the embassy in one of the deadliest attacks on the Afghan capital, The New York Times reported.

Among the dead were India's defense attache, two embassy security guards and six Afghan police officers, the BBC reported.

No one has claimed responsibility for the attack, officials said. However, the Taliban has pledged to escalate attacks in an attempt to overthrow the government and challenge the presence of 60,000 foreign troops in Afghanistan, the Times said.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai said the attackers wanted to undermine good relations Afghanistan has with India. India condemned the "cowardly terrorists' attack," the British broadcaster said.

The United States condemned the "needless act of violence," as did the European Union, calling the assault a "terrorist attack targeting innocent civilians."