A Taliban suicide vehicle bomber killed five people Monday near the entrance of Kabul’s worldwide airport, the latest in a barrage of violence that has convulsed the Afghan capital since Friday.
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A suicide auto bomb attack targeted the entrance of Kabul airport in Afghanistan on Monday, killing at least five civilians and injuring seventeen.
Zabihullah Mujahid, the Taliban spokesperson, claimed responsibility for the attack on his Twitter page, saying the target was foreign forces.
Al Jazeera’s Jennifer Glasse, reporting from Kabul, said that with the latest attack, the Taliban was trying to prove that it had a presence in the capital.
Kabul has been rocked by a series of attacks in recent days that have killed scores of people and wounded hundreds.
Health Ministry spokesman Waheedullah Mayar said 18 people were also wounded and were rushed to the hospital after the attack, which caused extensive damage to the surrounding area.
Since coming to power last year Mr. Ghani was seen to be actively friendly with Pakistan despite the nation backing Taliban.
One suicide bomber self-destructed next to the Kabul police academy, killing at least 20 police recruits, according to reports. “I have told the Pakistani prime minister and army chief that peace in Pakistan is impossible without peace in Afghanistan“, he said, adding that an Afghan delegation would travel to Pakistan on Thursday to “seriously” discuss the peace process. They suggest new Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Akhtar Mansour intends to send a message that there will be no letup in the insurgency.
A second round of the negotiations was scheduled for July 31 but the Taliban pulled out from the process at the last moment after acknowledging its longtime leader, Mullah Omar, died.
He said that he is hopeful for peace but messages of war have been received from Pakistan.
The Interior Ministry said in a statement that insurgents tried to attack the military base on the outskirts of Kabul with an explosives-packed auto. McCain, who is Chairman of the US Senate Armed Services Committee, asserts that a significantly larger global force is needed to help repel the Taliban, and has warned that Afghanistan risks becoming destabilised in what he called the “same movie” we have seen in Iraq.
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Conflict between the Western-backed government and the Taliban has intensified this year, with civilians and Afghan security forces taking the brunt after the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation combat mission ended in 2014.
