A Kabul police official, speaking on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to brief the news media, said that at least 25 people were killed when four suicide attackers tried to enter the Kabul Police Academy compound shortly before 8 p.m., setting off explosives in an attempt to breach the wall.
Advertisement
The American military said early Saturday that one coalition soldier was killed in that attack, which targeted Camp Integrity, an American base in the area.
The suicide bomber dressed as a police officer and detonated himself among students at the academy in Afghanistan’s capital, which is situated near a U.S. Special Forces base called Camp Integrity.
It ended with the battle at Camp Integrity, which saw one North Atlantic Treaty Organisation soldier and eight civilian contractors killed.
President Ashraf Ghani threatened a rapid and forceful response, saying the attack was aimed at diverting public attention from the Taliban’s leadership struggle but that it would not sway his determination to carry on with efforts to bring peace to the country.
The three attacks took place a week after the announcement of the death of Taliban leader Mullah Omar.
The Taliban distanced themselves from the first bombing that struck near a Kabul military base – as they usually do in attacks that result in a large number of civilian casualties.
But Friday’s attack included a massive truck bombing targeting a residential area in the capital that killed 15 people and wounded more than 200, something unusual. The blast flattened a city block and left a 10-meter (30-foot) crater in the ground.
In a statement released by the Taliban on Friday, spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid, said that following “long consultations and discussions among the leadership council of the Taliban and Islamic scholars”, Mansoor had been chosen as the “Emir of the Islamic Emirate”, replacing Mullah Omer, who had been the group’s spiritual leader for over 20 years.
It was the first major wave of violence since the Taliban recently confirmed the death of its founder, Mullah Mohammad Omar.
No one has yet claimed responsibility for the attacks, though officials indicated they blamed the Taliban.
“We strongly condemn the series of insurgent attacks in Kabul”, said Mark Toner, the State Department’s deputy spokesperson.
Meanwhile, Taliban attacks against Afghan officials and forces have intensified with their annual warm-weather offensive.
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.
One Afghan official said that the majority of the victims were members of illegal armed groups that had clashed with security forces as well as with local Taliban groupings in the past.
The report said 1,592 civilians were killed, a 6 per cent fall from last year, but the number of injured jumped 4 per cent to 3,329. That’s also raised questions about the peace process that Ghani has made pivotal to his presidency.
Advertisement
“Ambassador Rice and Ms. Monaco each reaffirmed U.S. support for Afghanistan as it confronts terrorists who target innocent civilians and threaten the stability and security of Afghanistan“, the White House said in its statement.
