North Atlantic Treaty Organisation called a halt in 2014 to its combat mission in Afghanistan, substituted since January by Operation Resolute Support, which has some 4,000 soldiers engaged in assistance and training tasks.
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The wave of Friday bombings across the Afghan capital, which killed a total of 49 people and wounded hundreds, follows a week of turmoil in the Taliban movement over its leadership.
The Taliban distanced themselves from the truck bombing which struck near a Kabul military base – as they usually do in attacks that result in mass civilian casualties.
Camp Integrity is not well known outside of the military community and was (is) headquarters for Academi, the global security organization founded by Erik Prince. The first half of 2015 saw an increase of 78% in suicide and complex attacks, such as the ones that shook Kabul on Friday.
Meanwhile, the death of Omar, which Afghan officials said actually happened more than two years ago, continued as the subject of media speculation in Kabul.
U.S. Embassy in Afghanistan has also condemned attack terrorist attack in Kabul, noting targeting civilians by terrorists demonstrates they disrespect human rights.
In that attack, the Taliban said, a person dressed in police uniform mingled with cadets returning from their weekend break.
The evening attacks came less than 24 hours after a huge truck bomb exploded near an army compound in a residential area of Kabul, killing at least 15 people and wounding 248.
A medic quoted by the Reuters news agency said that injured people including children were rushing to a nearby hospital for treatment.
Another police officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to reporters, said there were also at least 25 wounded among the recruits.
No one has yet claimed responsibility for the explosion, though officials have indicated they believed the Taleban was behind it. The terror group often does not claim to have carried out attacks that kill large numbers of civilians, especially women and children. The UN mission in Afghanistan said the wave of violence was the worst since the organization began recording civilian casualties in 2009. Mullah Akhtar Mansour has been appointed as new Taliban head, causing a leadership dispute and bringing fractions to the group.
Two suicide attacks have killed at least 35 people and injured hundreds more in Kabul, the first major attacks there since the announcement of Taliban leader Mullah Omar’s death.
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The Taliban took responsibility for both of the later attacks. Taliban leaders were preparing to attend a second round of negotiations with Afghan officials, prodded by Pakistani authorities amid a thaw in their long-chilly relations with Kabul, and hopes were reinforced by a supportive statement from the supreme Taliban leader, Mohammed Omar.
