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Suicide blast near Afghan foreign ministry, more than 20 casualties
 [IsraelTimes] A jacket wallah detonates a device near Afghanistan’s foreign ministry in the capital, causing more than 20 casualties, an AFP staff member says.Images from the scene show people lying in the snow in the street outside the central Kabul building. "I don’t know how many of them were dead or injured," AFP driver Jamshed Karimi says, adding: "I saw the man blow himself up." Kabul police front man Khalid Zadran confirms the earth-shattering kaboom "which unfortunately resulted in casualties." "Security teams have reached the area," he tweets. There’s a tweet at the link with an image from perhaps the sixth floor of a building up the street, which claims “Suicide bombing leaves 12 dead & more injured outside Afghanistan's Foreign Affairs HQ in Kabul.” Unfortunately I can’t remember the password I used when I signed up several years ago, so I can’t embed it here for y’all. Reports from Khaama Press and Tolo News as of noon Wednesday: Blast Happened Near Foreign Ministry in Kabul [ToloNews] A blast took place in front of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in downtown Kabul on Wednesday afternoon. At least five non-combatants were killed and several others were maimed in the blast, a front man for the Kabul security department, Khalid Zadran, said. He said the Islamic Emirate condemns such "heinous" attacks and will punish the perpetrators. He said the earth-shattering kaboom happened on the street of the Foreign Ministry. Zadran added that security forces have arrived at the scene. Photos from the blast scene on social media show bodies of victims on the street. Victims of the blast near the foreign ministry in Kabul were taken to the Emergency Hospital.  TOLOnews' footage shows some residents of Kabul waiting outside the hospital, looking for their relatives who have been harmed in the blast.No group has grabbed credit for the blast. Explosion Happened Near the Entrance of Foreign Affairs Ministry in Kabul [KhaamaPress] A kaboom took place near the entrance of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Kabul earlier today, according to local sources. Kabul Police Spokesperson, Khalid Zadran, in a tweet said that the earth-shattering kaboom happened in front of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the heart of Kabul today (Wednesday), causing casualties. Mr. Zadran said the security personnel has arrived at the scene, and investigations are underway, however, he did not provide any details on the number of casualties. Although Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that they were al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're really very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allaharound with every other sentence, but to hear western pols talk they're not reallyMoslems.... faceless myrmidons have been behind terror attacks in the recent past, no group has claimed the responsibility for the blast so far. The security situation has tanked in Kabul and other major cities of Afghanistan in the recent past. Targeted attacks, suicide kabooms, and gun firing have occurred in several locations taking the lives of security officials and innocent civilians. Since the Taliban  ...the Pashtun equivalent of men...’s return to power in August 2021, there have not been any major improvements in terms of security. The optimism the general public had with the re-emergence of Afghanistan’s interim administration is gradually fading.
Kabul police spokesperson Khalid Zadran said the official confirmed death toll was five, while Ustad Fareedun, an official at the Taliban-run information ministry, said 20 people were killed. The attacker had planned to enter the ministry but did not succeed, a Taliban spokesman said. A photo of the area posted on social media showed at least nine people who had been wounded or killed outside the building as security forces attended to them. Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack, the militant group's Amaq news agency said in an affiliated Telegram channel. The blast hit around 4pm local time (11am GMT), Mr Zadran said. He said officials were investigating. The Taliban-run government has been fighting an insurgency by Islamic State militants who have targeted foreigners at sites such as the Russian and Pakistani embassies, as well as a hotel catering to Chinese businessmen. The explosion happened at a busy time of the day in a heavily-fortified area, which is surrounded by checkpoints. The street houses several ministries. It was the second prominent attack in Kabul so far this year. In an earlier attack, Islamic State claimed responsibility for a bombing near a checkpoint at the city's military airport that killed and wounded several people. No official casualty figures have been released so far.
He denied social media reports that the blast took place when Taliban officials were holding a meeting with Chinese officials. “There was no meeting in the ministry,” Ahmadullah added. Posted by: trailing wife 2023-01-12 |
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