Afghan President Ashraf Ghani strongly condemned the attack, which came just days into the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. Almost two hours after the explosion near Zanbaq Square, a crowded area in the capital that leads to the presidential palace as well as major foreign embassies, plumes of smoke were still rising from the scene.
Witnesses described dozens of cars choking the roads as wounded survivors and panicked schoolgirls sought safety, with men and women struggling to get through security checkpoints to search for loved ones.
It was not immediately clear what the target was.
Angry citizens demanded answers from the government over the perceived intelligence failure leading to the assault, which underscores spiralling insecurity in Afghanistan.
He added that Kabul expects Islamabad to act against the Haqqani network while expressing fears of more such attacks in the country. Ghani visited some of those wounded in the attack in the hospital.
As thousands more Afghans mourn their dead and injured, European and other officials should remove their rose-tinted glasses and acknowledge that until bombs stop ripping people apart on their way to work, Kabul is no place to return anyone.
Mohammad Ismael, spokesman for the Health Ministry, told Anadolu Agency that the hospitals are overwhelmed with patients. The Afghan Taliban denied any role in the blast and condemned the attack on civilians.
The Afghan Ministry of Interior spokesman Najib Danish was quoted in the media as saying that a suicide bomber detonated a vehicle filled with explosives.
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Glasse said the Afghan presidential palace and the Indian Embassy are also nearby.
"We are all safe, all our staff, all our personnel are safe". It says embassy officials also reported some minor damage to the building, such as broken windows but that there are no other reports of injuries or damage involving Japanese nationals in Kabul. "Our thoughts are with the families of the deceased and prayers with the injured".
The explosion shattered windows and blew doors off their hinges in houses hundreds of meters (yards) away.
The ranking member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Rep. Eliot Engel (D-N.Y.), said the attack demonstrates why Trump must articulate a strategy to end the conflicts in Afghanistan.
Since most global troops withdrew at the end of 2014, the Taliban have gained ground and now control or contest about 40% of the country, according to USA estimates, though President Ashraf Ghani's government holds all provincial centers.
There are about 8,400 United States troops in Afghanistan - a majority of them are involved in training and advising Afghan troops. They mainly serve in an advisory capacity - a far cry from the U.S. presence of more than 100,000 six years ago.
So far, no group has claimed responsibility for the bombing.
The city's acting mayor, Abdullah Habibzai, said an initial estimate put the total damage from the bombing at 1 billion Afghanis ($1.5 million), but said that number could rise.
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