Militants had taken hostages, thought to be all Afghan citizens, in a hotel in the centre of the capital where the militants holed themselves up after a suicide attack outside the building late Monday night, a security source said.
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An Afghan soldier inspects the site of suicide attack In Kabul near Afghanistan’s Defense Ministry, Monday, Sept. 5, 2016. The attack started off with a heavy explosion, which was thought to have been a vehicle bomb.
According to officials, the suicide bomber detonated the auto bomb at the gate of the compound.
MoI spokesman Sediq Sediqqi said the organisation was targeted in a bombing and attackers then entered the building in Shar-e-Naw, reports Tolo News.
Amnesty International says a recent bombing and shooting attack by militants on the office of an international charity organization in the Afghan capital Kabul constitutes a “war crime”.
Six civilians were wounded in the attack, according to the Interior Ministry. The Afghan Special Police Force (CRU) ended the siege on the NGO mid-morning on Tuesday.
The interior ministry said 42 people including 10 foreigners were rescued.
Afghan security personnel keep watch in front of the entrance to CARE International charity organization following a vehicle bomb blast in Kabul, Afghanistan, September 6, 2016. CARE International said on Twitter that all of its staff members in Afghanistan were safe and assessments were continuing. The area is home to several guest houses.
Government leaders have been preparing for a conference in Brussels next month regarding Afghan security forces’ inability to combat increasing Taliban violence.
Health ministry spokesman Waheed Majroh said the attack left 24 people dead and 91 others wounded, some of them seriously, adding the casualties could rise still further. The total civilian casualty figure recorded by the United Nations since 1 January 2009 through 30 June 2016 has risen to 63,934, including 22,941 deaths and 40,993 injured.
The assault came hours after high-level officials, including an army general, were killed in two blasts near the defence ministry, in an attack apparently created to inflict mass casualties. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to release the information.
Defence ministry spokesman Mohammad Radmanish said: “The first explosion occurred on a bridge near the defence ministry”. Senior police investigator Faredoon Obiadi said the suicide attacker was wearing military uniform.
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Afghan police have blocked all roads leading to Shar-e-Now.
