Blasts in Kabul kill one, injure 17 others

0

Afghan security forces keep watch at the site of an attack in Kabul, Afghanistan. — Reuters photo

KABUL: At least two blasts struck a large ceremony Thursday attended by Afghanistan chief executive Abdullah Abdullah and other leading government officials, killing one person and injuring 17 others.

The Kabul attack represents a major security breach and marks a resumption of violence in the capital after weeks of calm amid ongoing peace talks between the US and Taliban in Doha.

“Stay calm, the area of the blast is far from us,” said former lower house speaker Mohammad Younus Qanooni during a live broadcast of the event.

But moments after the announcement, another explosion and gunfire could be heard that sent people running.

A second unidentified voice then addressed the screaming crowd, saying: “I request my countrymen to stay calm. The mortar attack is far from the gathering.”

The blasts happened during a ceremony marking the 24th anniversary of the death of Shiite Hazara leader Abdul Ali Mazari that was attended by many of the country’s political elite, including Abdullah and former President Hamid Karzai.

“Terrorists were firing Mortars at Abdul Ali Mazari remembrance ceremony, from inside a compound,” deputy interior minister Khoshal Sadat said in English on Twitter, adding that police had arrested one person linked to the attack.

“One martyred, 17 wounded – 3 children and one woman among them,” tweeted Wahidullah Mayar, spokesman for the health ministry.

Foreign Minister Salahuddin Rabbani – who was at the scene – later added that “terrorists launched rocket attacks on commemoration ceremony”, and said he had escaped safely.

It remained unclear whether rockets or mortar fire were being used, with officials using both terms.

No group has claimed responsibility for the blasts.

“This was the most horrid and unforgivable attack on civilians by a merciless enemy,” tweeted presidential candidate and former national security adviser Mohammad Haneef Atmar.

He added that eight of his security guards were injured in the attack.

The incident comes as US and Taliban negotiations continue to hold peace talks in Qatar aimed at ending the nearly 18-year conflict.

The last major attack in Kabul occurred in January when the Taliban-claimed responsibility for a car bomb that struck the heavily fortified Green Village foreign compound.

Heavy snowfall across large swathes of Afghanistan has led to a reduction in violence this winter, but warmer weather in the country’s south will likely spark an increase in bloodshed with the arrival of the spring fighting season.

Analysts have warned that the Taliban are likely to ramp up attacks in the coming months as they seek to maintain momentum on the battlefield and leverage at the negotiating table.

On Wednesday at least 16 people were killed in a suicide attack on a construction company in eastern Afghanistan’s Jalalabad city.

The hours-long attack began early Wednesday when two suicide bombers detonated explosives at the gate of the compound, allowing three others to enter the area where they went on a killing spree.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack, but both the Islamic State group and the Taliban are active near the city, in Nangarhar province.

Afghanistan has been enmeshed in nearly constant conflict since the Soviet invasion of 1979, which was followed by civil war, the Taliban regime, and the US invasion in late 2001. — AFP