The base houses U.S. and coalition troops that help train Afghan forces.
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A wave of attacks on Afghan police, army and North Atlantic Treaty Organisation installations in Kabul has killed at least 42 people and wounded hundreds, dashing hopes that Taliban insurgents might be weakened by a leadership struggle after news of their longtime leader’s death last week.
The Taliban said it was behind the attack on the police academy but has made no comment about the two other attacks.
The NATO-led mission in Afghanistan said on Saturday that eight civilian contractors were killed along with one of its service members in an insurgent attack on a camp in Kabul.
Earlier on Friday, at least 25 people died in a suicide bombing at a police academy and a truck bomb killed 15.
The Afghan capital had been on alert since early on Friday, when a massive truck bomb exploded outside an Afghan army base in a residential area called Shah Shaheed, close to the centre of Kabul.
In a statement, the ministry of foreign affairs reaffirmed its stance on fighting terrorism with the government of Afghanistan.
Divisions have damaged out inside the Taliban excessive command following final week’s appointment of Mullah Akhtar Mansour asnew chief.
Zafar Hashemi, the president’s deputy spokesman, blamed the Taliban and said the attackers aimed to “hide the cracks between their own factions and create terror”.
“The attacker was wearing police uniform… when he detonated his explosives, 20 cadets were killed and 20 more were wounded”, the official told AFP.
The Taliban distanced themselves from the bombing which struck near a Kabul military base – as they usually do in attacks that result in a large number of civilian casualties.
READ ALSO:Leadership challenged in Taliban after Mullah Omar Ruttig said that with the latest attacks in Kabul, Mansour could be sending a message of resolve to the militant rank and file as well as to the Afghan government.
A U.S. official said the attack, which took place at 10:15 p.m., began with an explosion from a suspected suicide bomber followed by insurgents with small arms. The service member’s nationality was not launched.
The wounded were overwhelming city hospitals, officials said, with reports emerging of blood shortages and urgent appeals for donors circulating on social media.
The scale of the violence heightened obstacles to reviving the stalled peace course of and conveyed a no-compromise message from the Taliban at a fragile time following final week’s revelation of Mullah Mohammad Omar’s demise and an ongoing dispute over management of the novel Islamist insurgency.
One analyst told CNN that Mansour’s rise may bode poorly for the peace talks. “He is the one who has presided over the movement during a period of escalation of the violence”, Semple said.
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It continues: “We will continue our jihad and we will fight until we bring an Islamic rule in the country”.
