At least 15 killed in Kabul, Afghanistan, explosion

KABUL, Afghanistan, Aug. 7 (UPI) -- A truck bomb killed at least 15 people and injured hundreds, mostly by flying glass, Friday in the first large-scale incident in Kabul, Afghanistan, in nearly a month.

The early-morning explosion near an Afghan army base in the city's heavily populated Shah Shaheed neighborhood collapsed several multistory buildings, broke windows, burned cars within a 100-meter (330 feet) radius and left a deep crater in a street. While the Taliban typically takes responsibility for similar, although less destructive, incidents, there has been no accountability for the explosion.

Afghanistan's Health Ministry said as many as 400 people may have been injured, and a spokesman for President Ashraf Ghani said 30 children were among the wounded.

The blast occurred a week after the Taliban revealed its reclusive founder and leader, Mullah Mohammad Omar, has been dead since 2013. Conflicts over his succession, within the Taliban, have complicated attempts at a new peace process for Afghanistan.