|
The Taliban claim responsibility for a car bomb attack on the residence of Afghanistan’s acting defense minister
[PUBLISH.TWITTER]
The Taliban  ...Arabic for students... grabbed credit on Wednesday for a car kaboom on the residence of Afghanistan’s acting defense minister, while a blast near the office of the main security agency in Kabul just hours later maimed three people. Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid said the group targeted the residence on Tuesday night, adding that an important meeting was underway at the time. For the latest headlines, follow our Google News channel online or via the app. The defense minister survived, but the attack represented a deterioration in the country’s security situation and a sign that the capital was at risk of violence as the turbans take control of swathes of territory. The blast targeted a heavily fortified area of the capital, which has in recent weeks largely been spared the violence hitting other parts of the country. The Ministry of Interior said at least eight non-combatants were killed and 20 maimed in the incident. On Wednesday morning, another explosion took place near a facility of Afghanistan’s main security agency in the capital, wounding two civilians and a security official, police said. No group immediately took responsibility for the blast. The Taliban have stepped up their campaign to defeat the US-backed government since April as US-led foreign forces complete their withdrawal after 20 years of war. Fighting has been particularly heavy around the city of Herat ...a venerable old Persian-speaking city in western Afghanistan, populated mostly by Tadjiks, which is why it's not as blood-soaked as areas controlled by Pashtuns... , near the western border with Iran, and Lashkar Gah and Kandahar in the south. The late Tuesday bomb-and-gun attack in Kabul was aimed at acting Defense Minister Bismillah Mohammadi and other politicians. Government forces battled the unidentified button men for more than four hours. Mohammadi survived. An Afghan military front man said an emergency had been declared in Lashkar Gah and government forces were getting reinforcements and US air support. "Special forces have been sent to the area. They are in good morale," armed forces front man General Ajmal Omar Shinwari told Rooters. The loss of Lashkar Gah would be a huge blow for the government, which has pledged to defend strategic centers after losing many rural districts to the Taliban in recent months. Scores of families have fled from their homes in the small city, capital of Helmand ...an Afghan province populated mostly by Pashtuns, adjacent to Injun country in Pak Balochistan... province, as government forces launched a counterattack against the Taliban. The United Nations ...where theory meets practice and practice loses... reported on Tuesday that at least 40 civilians had been killed in Lashkar Gah in the previous 24 hours. Taliban fighters had taken control of some radio and TV stations in the city and were moving into homes to stop people from helping government forces, residents said. Russian military journalist Boris Rozhin remarks (Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited): The Taliban have officially claimed responsibility for yesterday's car bombing in Kabul, calling the attack a "martyr operation." The grouping statement states that the attack is a partial Taliban response to attacks and airstrikes by military subordinates of the Kabul administration on civilians in Afghanistan. In response, the Taliban announced that they would target key figures in the Afghan government and various officials involved in attacks on civilians. De facto, high-ranking officials of the Ghani regime have been declared legitimate military targets, which of course will not bring the agreements between the government and the Taliban closer. As a result of yesterday's attack in Kabul, 8 people were killed and 20 injured. The militants blew up a car near the residence of the Minister of Defense and broke into its territory, where a long battle began with the minister's security. Among those killed are both militants (it is stated that at least 3 out of 4 attackers were killed) and guards, plus a woman was caught and killed in the street by an explosion. The minister was not hurt, so the liquidation attempt failed, although the Taliban demonstrated that he has long enough arms to try to eliminate the functionaries of the Ghani government right in Kabul. More videos of the aftermath can be seen here and here Posted by: Fred 2021-08-05 |
| http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=609008 |