Kabul:
Four men and women have been killed and 20 wounded in a coordinated bomb and gun attack targeting the Afghan defence minister and various lawmakers in the country’s capital Tuesday, not far from the heavily fortified Green Zone.
The wave of blasts, which Washington mentioned bore the “hallmarks” of the Taliban, came as the Afghan army urged residents to evacuate a besieged southern city ahead of a planned offensive against the insurgents following 3 days of heavy fighting.
Violence has surged across the nation due to the fact early May when the Taliban launched a nationwide offensive quickly following the US-led foreign forces started their final withdrawal.
Security officials told AFP 4 men and women have been killed and 20 other individuals wounded in Tuesday’s attack, with health-related charity Emergency saying 4 bodies of men and women killed in the assault had been brought to its facility in Kabul.
The interior ministry mentioned the attack had been effectively repelled and all the attackers had been killed by safety forces. “A big number of people were rescued and the area is secured now,” spokesman Mirwais Stanikzai told reporters.
The 1st bomb blew up in central Kabul late on Tuesday, sending a thick plume of smoke into the sky, AFP correspondents reported.
Defence Minister Bismillah Mohammadi mentioned it was a suicide car or truck bomb attack targeting his home. “Unfortunately, some of my guards are wounded,” he added in a video message.
Less than two hours following the car or truck bomb detonated, a different loud blast followed by smaller sized explosions and fast gunfire once again shook Kabul, also close to the higher-safety Green Zone that homes various embassies, like the US mission.
A safety supply mentioned various attackers had entered a lawmaker’s home following setting off the car or truck bomb and have been also shooting at the residence of the defence minister from there.
“Several lawmakers were meeting at the house of this MP to make a plan to counter the Taliban offensive in the north,” the supply told AFP.
‘Hallmarks Of Taliban Attacks’
No group has however claimed the attack, but Washington pointed the finger at the Taliban.
“We’re not in a position to attribute it officially just yet but of course it does bear all the hallmarks of the spate of Taliban attacks that we have seen in recent weeks,” State Department spokesman Ned Price told reporters. “We unequivocally condemn the bombing, and we continue to stand by our (Afghan) partners.”
Even as the blasts and gunfire rocked the city, crowds of men and women marched down Kabul’s streets and took to rooftops chanting “Allahu Akbar” and “Death to the Taliban” in assistance of Afghan forces battling the insurgents in 3 regional capitals.
“We are in support of Afghan forces and all those who are against the Taliban and fighting on the frontlines,” mentioned Karim, a resident of Kabul who gave only one name.
The insurgents’ assaults on the cities of Lashkar Gah, Kandahar and Herat due to the fact last week came following they seized manage of a great deal of rural Afghanistan, as foreign forces started the last stage of their withdrawal from the nation in May.
Fighting is raging for manage of Lashkar Gah, the capital of southern Helmand province, with the United Nations saying at least 40 civilians have been killed in the last 24 hours.
General Sami Sadat, commander of the 215 Maiwand Afghan Army Corps, urged residents to evacuate.
“Please leave as soon as possible so that we can start our operation,” he mentioned in a message to the city of 200,000 men and women.
“I know it is very difficult for you to leave your houses — it is hard for us too — but if you are displaced for a few days, please forgive us.
“We are fighting the Taliban wherever they are,” he said.
Officials said earlier that insurgents had seized more than a dozen local radio and TV stations in Lashkar Gah, leaving only one pro-Taliban channel broadcasting Islamic programming.
The UN Assistance Mission for Afghanistan (UNAMA) tweeted its “deepening concern for Afghan civilians… as fighting worsens” and called for an “quick finish to fighting in urban locations”.
‘Taliban Are Everywhere’
Sefatullah, director of Sukon radio in Lashkar Gah, said: “Fighting was intense this morning”.
He said US and Afghan air force planes had pounded Taliban positions, and that fighting was ongoing near the city’s prison and a compound housing the headquarters of police and intelligence agencies.
“The Taliban are everywhere in the city, you can see them on motorcycles in the streets. They are arresting or shooting men and women who have smartphones,” a resident of Lashkar Gah told AFP, on situation of anonymity.
The loss of Lashkar Gah would be a huge strategic and psychological blow for the government, which has pledged to defend cities at all expenses following losing a great deal of the rural countryside to the Taliban more than the summer season.
In the western city of Herat that is also below siege, officials mentioned government forces had managed to push back the insurgents from various locations — like close to the airport, which is essential for supplies.
But on Tuesday afternoon, 4 rockets struck the airport. The facility was not broken, airport chief Shaheer Salehi told AFP, but two flights have been cancelled.