BUJUMBURA, Burundi – Violence from coordinated attacks on three Burundian army installations killed 87 people, an army spokesman said Saturday, showing the turmoil over the disputed third term of President Pierre Nkurunziza.
Advertisement
Among the dead were four Afghan police officers, two foreign citizens and an Afghan electrician who worked at the guesthouse, said Fraidoon Obaidy, head of criminal investigation for the Kabul police.
The Spanish government said Saturday a Taliban attack in Kabul, in which two Spanish policemen were killed, was “an attack on Spain”.
Sporadic gunfire and occasional explosions were heard throughout the night.
A Taliban spokesman said the attack targeted “an invader’s guest house”.
Separately, at least 848 Afghan civilians were killed or wounded following a Taliban attack on the northern city of Kunduz in September, according to a United Nations report that detailed the grim conditions endured by residents during two weeks of fighting.
The Taliban have claimed responsibility for the attack, which caused some damage to the Spanish Embassy and killed two Spanish police officers, Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy’s administration confirmed.
“A auto bomb was detonated by a terrorist near the gate of a guest-house belonging to Spanish Embassy at around 5.40 pm (local time) in Shairpoor locality”.
Kabul district of Sherpur, where several foreign embassies, guest houses and homes of officials from the government are located, was the target of the attack.
The ministry said that the crisis-response team of the Kabul police had rescued 12 guests.
The attack occurred just days after President Ashraf Ghani returned from a regional peace conference in Pakistan, where he sought support to revive peace talks that stalled this year.
As the country grapples with a Taliban upsurge, Afghanistan’s spy chief on Thursday quit his post, laying bare disagreements with Ghani over his diplomatic outreach to Pakistan.
His resignation highlighted the domestic backlash Mr Ghani faces over his attempts to fix strained relations with Islamabad.
“Or that they are keen to wrangle big concessions from Kabul before they come to the negotiating table”.
But the Taliban rejected his remarks.
Advertisement
Zabiullah Mujahid, a purported a Taliban spokesman said, the attacks were part of the Taliban’s offensive called Azam.
