Despite war season having ended in Afghanistan, the Taliban militant group have intensified their attacks against foreign and governmental locations.
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Injuries… An injured man speaks on a mobile phone after a suicide vehicle bomb attack near the Kabul airport in Kabul, opn Monday.
Reportedly, the attacker blew himself up at the gate of French restaurant Le Jardin, killing the guard and the building caught on fire.
“We can confirm a suicide auto bomb attack on Le Jardin”, Fraidoon Obaidi, the head of Kabul’s Criminal Investigation Department, told AFP news agency.
Health ministry officials said ambulances were delayed in reaching the scene because security officials had cordoned off the narrow, unpaved street where the restaurant was located.
Afghanistan is still gripped by insecurity 14 years after the United States and its allies attacked the country as part of Washington’s so-called war on terror.
Sediqqi later said one suspect had been arrested but did not elaborate.
Taliban insurgents routinely exaggerate the death toll in attacks on government and foreign targets. Afghan broadcaster Tolo News reported that a second person had been killed in the attack. Frequent Taliban attacks over the past two years at similar spots have significantly harmed the local economy, and many businesses have close their doors after estimating the likelihood of threat.
Afghanistan has long said Pakistan is harboring Taliban leaders and sponsoring the insurgency as a means of exerting control over Kabul, a charge that Pakistan rejects, saying it too is a victim of terrorism.
The establishment of the hot line is seen as a major development as it would end to the mistrust between the two sides and will give a boost to security cooperation. “First contact/call just made”, Bajwa tweeted.
Afghan President Ashraf Ghani announced on Thursday that the first round of Afghan peace process talks will be held in Pakistan’s capital city of Islamabad in January.
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Afghan forces are now battling to push back Taliban insurgents who seized large swathes of the key opium-rich district of Sangin in the southern province of Helmand.
