India's Defence Attaché to Afghanistan was among those killed yesterday morning as a huge car bomb attack on the country's embassy in Kabul left 41 dead and 139 injured. It was the worst attack in the Afghan capital since 2001.

The blast, at 8.30am local time, rocked the Afghan capital and shattered shop windows within a radius of several hundred metres leaving the Indian Embassy, which lies just a few hundred metres from the Afghan Interior Ministry in one of Kabul's busiest streets, badly damaged.

A line of blast barriers designed to shield the Embassy from attack was partly levelled by the force of the explosion, which witnesses told The Times targeted two embassy vehicles carrying Indian diplomats into the heavily guarded compound.

An Indian Defence Ministry official confirmed the death of Brigadier R. Mehta, the Indian Defence Attaché, while the Indian Ambassador, Jayan Prasad, said that Political and Information Councillor V. Venkateswara Rao was also killed. His body was later recovered from a nearby rooftop.

Two Indian security guards were also killed, after their observation tower on the wall of the embassy was blown off by the force of the explosion.

The blast tore through a queue of Afghans waiting to collect visas when the embassy opened at 9am, leaving a scene of carnage with body parts and numerous burnt-out vehicles strewn across the road.

"There was a huge blast and the area filled with dust and smoke," Zabair Jan, 20, who was working in his father's shop close to the embassy told The Times.

"My father was outside and he has been injured. After a few minutes the dust began to clear and we could see maybe 60 or 70 people lying on the ground."

There were harrowing scenes at local hospitals as relatives gathered for news of the missing and injured. Many of the victims of the bomb were reported to be women and children.

Hamid Karzai, the Afghan President, blamed "enemies of Afghanistan-India friendship" for the attack while a US Security spokesman, Gordon Johndroe, said "extremists continue to show their disregard for all human life and their willingness to kill fellow Muslims". There was no immediate claim of responsibility from the Taleban.

India has been the fourth largest international donor to Afghanistan since 2001, pledging more than $750million of aid focused on infrastructure and telecommunications work in particular. In addition the Indian government offers Afghan students 500 scholarships per year to Indian universities.

The targeting of the Indian Embassy may raise fears that Pakistani Islamist extremists may have been involved in the attack. Afghan officials have previously accused Islamabad of harbouring extremists.

Shah Mehmood Qureshi, the Pakistani Foreign Minister, issued a strong statement condemning the attack, however. "Pakistan condemns terrorism in all its forms and manifestations as this menace negates the very essence of human values,” Mr Qureshi said. He added that he expressed his“profound condolences to the bereaved families."

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