Unlike the attack on the police station, the Taliban did not claim responsibility for the truck bombing, which claimed mainly civilian casualties, killing and wounding people in their sleep and wrecking shops and homes.
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The implications of the assaults, however, undermine claims by security services and the government that the capital is immune from devastating attacks. Although the Taliban confirmed his death, they denied the allegations about the time of his death.
Kabul police chief Gen. Abdul Rahman Rahimi said officials were searching for anyone trapped under the mangled concrete debris.
Another police officer said that at least another 25 people were wounded by the blast. The blast was followed by sporadic gunfire and the sound of military jets flying over Kabul.
The blast, in suburban Kabul near a military base, happened at 1 a.m. Friday, killing 15 people and wounding 240. The president’s deputy spokesman Zafar Hashemi said about 40 of the wounded would remain hospitalized. While magnet bombs or suicide attacks have become a weekly occurrence, large truck bombs have rarely penetrated the city’s outskirts. Omar’s son Mullah Yakoub has been touted as a possible alternative leader but a Taliban cadre said some senior clerics are openly opposed to him.
Most were arriving on foot, the official said, and were being treated for superficial wounds.
More details to come…. Pakistan’s defense minister, Khawaja Muhammad Asif, repeated that denial in parliament on Friday.
The attack “shows a complete disregard for human life”, the U.S. Embassy said in a statement.
Wahidullha Mayar, a public health spokesman, told local media that some 400 injured were admitted to Kabul hospitals following the powerful explosion. “Whether he died now or earlier, this is also a controversy and we don’t want to be involved in it”, Asif said.
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The explosion took place near an army compound which was being used by Afghan intelligence officials. “Our efforts are that whichever leadership [of the Taliban] emerges that leadership continues with the process of peace and reconciliation with the Afghan government so that lasting peace can be established in the region”. There is no one to talk to right now. Mansoor has been a proponent of the recent, embryonic peace talks and is seen as a pragmatist.
