“Pakistan still remains a venue and ground for gatherings from which mercenaries send us message of war”, President Ghani told a press conference convened shortly after a massive suicide attack targeted the Kabul global airport, where at least 5 people were killed and more than 16 wounded.
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The statement in strong support to Mullah Mansour’s leadership came as the rift within Taliban ranks over succession after the group and the Afghan government announced Mullah Omar’s death last month widened.
On Monday there was a auto bomb attack on people lining up to get into Kabul worldwide airport.
Wahidullah Mayar, spokesman for the Afghan Ministry of Public Health, said at least four bodies had been recovered.
The Kabul provincial police chief, Abdul Rahman Rahimi, told the reporter that a auto packed with explosives blew up at the busy intersection.
A security official at the scene said the attack appeared to have been aimed at two armored cars, although it was not clear who was in the vehicles.
The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack, which comes after a barrage of bombings in Kabul killed at least 51 people on Friday, the deadliest day for the capital in years. A spokesperson from U.S. security contractor Academi (formerly known as Blackwater), said that the eight contractors killed were Afghan nationals, according to Reuters.
Speaking to journalists in his palace – just hours after a suicide bomber struck outside Kabul’s worldwide airport and days after a 24-hour blitz of attacks in the capital – Ghani all but declared that Pakistan was behind the Taliban-linked assaults and many others before them.
In a speech Monday, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani called on Pakistan to take action against Taliban insurgents based on Pakistani soil, saying “we know they have sanctuaries there”.
Afghan President Ashraf Ghani accused Pakistan of waging an “undeclared war” against his country, signaling a shift in approach toward his eastern neighbor after a week of bloody terrorist attacks.
Observers say the upsurge in violence represents a bid by new leader Mullah Akhtar Mansour to distract attention from the crisis as planned peace talks falter. “Pakistan can feel the pain and anguish of the brotherly people … of Afghanistan”.
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The insurgents have not officially confirmed the death of the supreme leader of the Taliban, who has not been seen publicly since the 2001 US-led invasion of Afghanistan that toppled the Taliban government in Kabul. “And recent participation in those reconciliation talks as of a few weeks ago was certainly an encouraging sign… we want to see this progress”, Kirby said.
