Kabul province police chief fired over rise in attacks in city

The Ministry of Interior confirmed Sunday Kabul province police chief, Amanullah Wahidi, has been dismissed following a sharp increase in insecurity in the capital in the past few weeks. 

Brigadier General Amanullah Wahidi was appointed to the position in April,  replacing Lieutenant General Sayed Mohammad Roshandil.

No details have yet been given on who his replacement will be. 

However, these past few weeks have been marred by a string of IED explosions, a rocket attack an assassination and an attempted assassination. 

On Saturday, an Afghan National Army colonel who served for the logistics department of the Defense Ministry and his driver were killed in an attack by armed men in Kart-e-Naw in Kabul’s PD8.

On the same day a string of IEDs were detonated against targets in the city. As many as five were detonated on Saturday morning and Saturday night. 

At least one person was killed and six others wounded in these blasts. 

Just over a week ago, peace negotiator and political activist Fawzia Koofi was shot in the hand after gunmen attacked her on the outskirts of the city while she was traveling back from Parwan province. 

In a separate incident last Wednesday, Abdulbaqi Amin, head of the Ministry of Education’s science council and proponent of peace, was killed in a targeted blast while driving in Kabul city.

 This incident came just a day after Kabul was bombarded by rockets that killed at least three people. Daesh claimed responsibility for the attack and said it had fired off 16 rockets. The city’s diplomatic zone and Presidential Palace had been the main targets. 

But, residents have raised their voices in the past few weeks over the growing number of attacks – especially magnetic IEDs that are attached to vehicles.

As a result, President Ashraf Ghani met with Kabul police officials two days ago and ordered them to take steps to improve the security situation in the capital. 

According to the Presidential Palace, security officials were told by the president that he had “visited police stations, the situation is not acceptable to me and there is an immediate need for administrative changes.”

Ghani also called out police chiefs and said they need to be more vigilant and ensure individuals who break the law are dealt with according to the law.