Share

Taliban Militants Bomb Restaurant in Kabul

The deadly explosion took place near a small Le Jardin restaurant, which was frequented by foreign visitors, Al Jazeera broadcaster reported citing a source in the Afghan Interior Ministry.

Advertisement

The security forces have cordoned off the area as a precautionary measure and arrested a male suspect after the attack.

Pakistan will host representatives from Afghanistan, the United States and China for a meeting January 11 in the capital, Islamabad, to work out a framework for peace negotiations, Ghani said in a televised speech Thursday.

Earlier this week, one civilian was killed and 33 were wounded in an attack claimed by the Taliban in an area close to Kabul airport.

Smoke and flames rise from Le Jardin restaurant after the attack by a Taliban suicide bomber in Kabul on Friday.

“We can confirm a suicide vehicle bomb attack on Le Jardin”, Fraidoon Obaidi, the head of Kabul’s Criminal Investigation Department, told AFP. He also said the bomber targeted a restaurant belonging to foreigners.

A previous peace effort by Afghanistan and Pakistan last summer collapsed after the Taliban opted out and instead waged a series of bloody attacks around the country.

Firefighters spray water to clean the site of a suicide auto bomb attack in Kabul, Afghanistan, December 28, 2015.

“We are busy extinguishing the fire at the scene”.

The explosion from the blast was so loud that it shattered a number of windows in the neighbourhood. He has made overtures to Pakistan, which many see as the insurgent group’s primary supporter.

The talks were cancelled after the death of the Taliban leader, Mullah Omar, was revealed.

Advertisement

The operation to free the prisoners followed months of fighting in which the Taliban has seized several district centres in Helmand, a major centre of opium cultivation and one of its traditional strongholds.

Afghan security forces investigate at the site of a suicide bomb attack in Kabul Afghanistan