KABUL, (Reuters) – A large bomb exploded outside the  Indian embassy in central Kabul yesterday, killing 17 people  and wounding 76, in the latest of a series of attacks by  militants on diplomatic and government buildings in the Afghan  capital.  

Violence has reached its worst levels of the eight-year war  as Taliban insurgents have extended fighting to previously  secure areas, including Kabul. Attacks in the capital had been  rare until the start of last year.  

Since 2008 there have been around a dozen major attacks in  the city, including raids on the German embassy, the  headquarters for the NATO-led force, the Information Ministry  and the Justice Ministry buildings, as well as other targets  near the U.S. embassy, presidential palace and airport.  

Yesterday’s blast tore through a market building across the  street from the heavily fortified Indian embassy compound,  leaving rubble and debris strewn across the road, where the  Afghan Interior Ministry is also located.  

The Taliban — toppled as Afghanistan’s rulers in 2001  following a U.S.-led invasion — claimed responsibility for the  bombing, saying the target had been the embassy. It was the  second big attack on the Indian mission in 15 months. India  said that all its embassy staff were safe. 

U.S. General Stanley McChrystal, the top U.S. and NATO  commander in Afghanistan, has asked for 40,000 more troops as  the minimum necessary to prevail in the counterinsurgency  fight, two sources told Reuters in Washington.