Kabul Suicide attack kills 30, wounds 330

A Taliban suicide bomb and gun assault on a government security agency during Tuesday morning rush hour in capital, Kabul killed 30 people and injured more than 330, as Taliban insurgents last week launched their annual spring offensive.

The assault targeted a building, which officials say houses a special unit of the Afghan security force working under the Afghan spy agency and responsible for protecting government officials.

The blast ripped through the city, rattling windows several miles away, and was followed by gunfire as attackers took cover in nearby buildings.

The bombing happened during the morning rush hour in Pul-e-Mahmud, a busy neighborhood where homes, mosques, schools and businesses nestle close to the Ministry of Defence, other ministries and military compounds.

Witnesses described  smoke was seen rising near state buildings which include the country’s intelligence offices.

The sound of the initial 9 a.m. blast spread for miles throughout the city. Residents said the sound of gunfire lasted for at least two hours following the initial blast.

Spokesman of Interior Ministry, Sidiq Sidiqi in a press conference said that two militants were involved in the attack.

One drove the small truck rigged with hundreds of kilograms of explosives. The second entered the compound in the aftermath of the explosion and opened fire before he was eventually killed.

“With no doubt there was a security vacuum and that needs to investigated, it is too early to comment on that right now,” Sidiqi said.

President Ashraf Ghani condemned the assault “in the strongest possible terms” in a statement from the presidential palace, located only a few hundred meters away from the scene of the blast.

Chief Executive Officer, (CEO) Abdullah Abdullah says the attack is a clear sign that the terror groups suppressed by Afghan forces and now seek for revenge.

Taliban claimed responsibility for carrying out the blast and said there were no civilian causalities.

But confirming the toll, Kabul chief of police, Gen. Abdul Rahman Rahimi said the majority of those killed were civilians, including women and children.

The ministry of public health said nearly 327 people were wounded in the incident including women and children; adding serious measures were taken in all hospitals of Kabul.

Emergency, an Italian-run hospital for war wounded in Kabul, said it had received 22 casualties, most of them members of the security forces, and most lightly injured. Luca Radaelli, Emergency’s medical coordinator, said numbers could rise because it had been difficult to evacuate victims while the fighting continued.

In the meantime, the Afghan parliament condemned the Kabul suicide attack and considered these terror incidents a clear message to the international community to target the main roots of insurgents.

The Parliament’s administrative board called for identifying and punishing the main perpetrators of this incident.

The first deputy of Senate House has also stressed that the enemies of Afghanistan would not reach targets with launching such attacks.

In separate statement the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) condemned the Taliban attack in Kabul.

“This attack shows the devastation caused by the use of explosive devices in urban areas and once more demonstrates complete disregard for the lives of Afghan civilians,” said Tadamichi Yamamoto, the Secretary-General’s Deputy Special Representative for Afghanistan. “The use of high explosives in civilian populated areas, in circumstances almost certain to cause immense suffering to civilians, may amount to war crimes.”

Gen. John W. Nicholson, the commander of NATO’s Resolute Support mission in Afghanistan has also condemned the attack.

“Today’s attack shows the insurgents are unable to meet Afghan forces on the battlefield and must resort to these terrorist attacks,” he said in a statement.

US Embassy is also condemning the Taliban attack in Kabul saying, it supports the Afghan government’s peace process to end such violence.

Tuesday’s attack in Kabul was a stinging blow to Afghan forces amid efforts to enhance security in the capital after a string of high-profile Taliban incursions.

The blast comes as Taliban insurgents have intensified battlefield attacks in more than 15 Afghan provinces as part of their annual spring offensive.

It has also been buoyed by and a flood of foreign fighters joining its ranks, and now controls sizeable parts of Afghanistan.