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| Afghanistan |
| Taliban claims responsibility for deadly blast in central Kabul |
| 2016-04-20 |
| [FRANCE24] A Taliban suicide kaboom followed by a firefight on a key security agency compound in the heart of Kabul ...the capital of Afghanistan. Home to continuous fighting from 1992 to 1996 between the forces of would-be strongman and Pak ISI/Jamaat-e-Islami sock puppet Gulbuddin Hekmayar and the Northern Alliance, a period which won Hek the title Most Evil Man in the Worldand didn't do much for the reputations of the Northern Alliance guys either.... Tuesday killed at least 28 people and maimed more than 300, according to Afghan officials. A minibus packed with explosives destroyed Kabul’s Puli Mahmood Khan neighbourhood -- a densely packed area that is home to several Afghan security compounds -- during the morning rush hour. The bombing was followed by a firefight, marking the first major Taliban offensive since the myrmidon Islamist group announced the start of the spring fighting season a week ago. Police sources told news hounds the blast occurred near the NDS (National Directorate of Security ...the Afghan national intel agency... ) compound in central Kabul, which is near the Ministry of Interior headquarters. At least 28 people were killed, according to Afghan police officials, and more than 300 people were maimed, including women and kiddies, said health officials. Afghanistan's Caped President Ashraf Ghani ...former chancellor of Kabul University, now president of Afghanistan. Before returning to Afghanistan in 2002 he was a scholar of political science and anthropology. He worked at the World Bank working on international development assistance. As Finance Minister of Afghanistan between July 2002 and December 2004, he led Afghanistan's attempted economic recovery until the Karzais stole all the money. .. condemned the attack "in the strongest possible terms" in a statement from the presidential palace. "Today's terrorist attack near Puli Mahmood Khan area of Kabul city demonstrates the clear defeat of the enemy in the face-to-face fight against Afghan cops," the Afghan presidential palace said in a statement on Twitter. Reporting from Kabul for FRANCE 24, Bilal Sarwary said the scale and sophistication of the attack in one of Kabul’s most heavily secured neighbourhood raises serious security questions. "President Ghani said the Taliban can’t face the Afghan cops in face-to-face battles, that’s why they are conducting attacks like this. But the president’s word will do little to restore the confidence of the Afghan people in what is clearly a huge security and intelligence failure once more." The kaboom rattled windows several miles away and sent a plume of thick smoke rising in the sky. Ambulances were seen rushing to the blast site and medical officials said a number of maimed had been rushed to a nearby hospital. The area around the kaboom was immediately cordoned off by security sources, according to witnesses and news hounds in the Afghan capital. Counter-terrorism experts in the Afghan Interior Ministry said initial findings showed very potent explosives were used in the minibus bombing to cause maximum casualties, according to Sarwary. Warning sirens blared out from the embassy compound, which is also close to the headquarters of the main NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A cautionary tale of cost-benefit analysis.... -led mission in Afghanistan. The US embassy said they were not affected by the blast. The NATO military coalition also said they were unaffected. Taliban claims attack The Taliban grabbed credit for the attack in a Twitter posting shortly after the blast destroyed central Kabul. Taliban front man Zabihullah Mujahid claimed their fighters had managed to enter the offices of the NDS, the main Afghan spy agency. The Afghan Taliban last Tuesday announced the start of their "spring offensive" even as the government in Kabul seeks to bring the holy warriors back to the negotiating table to end their drawn-out conflict. |
| Posted by:Fred |