suicide bomber attacks kabuls diplomatic zone
Last Updated : GMT 09:40:38
Themuslimchronicle, themuslimchronicle
Themuslimchronicle, themuslimchronicle
Last Updated : GMT 09:40:38
Themuslimchronicle, themuslimchronicle

Suicide bomber attacks Kabul's diplomatic zone

Themuslimchronicle, themuslimchronicle

Themuslimchronicle, themuslimchronicleSuicide bomber attacks Kabul's diplomatic zone

The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for Tuesday's attack
Kabul - Muslimchronicle

A suicide bomber believed to be as young as 12 struck Kabul's heavily fortified diplomatic quarter on Tuesday and killed at least five people, showing that militants can still hit the heart of the city despite tighter security.

It was the first attack targeting the Afghan capital's "Green Zone" since a massive truck bomb ripped through the area on May 31, killing or wounding hundreds, and prompting authorities to strengthen protection.

The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for Tuesday's attack, which follows a spate of suicide assaults by Taliban and IS insurgents on security installations and mosques in recent weeks. 

A Western security source told AFP the attacker appeared to have been targeting workers leaving an Afghan defense ministry facility inside the heavily protected zone.

Health ministry spokesman Ismail Kawoosi told AFP that at least five people had been killed and 20 wounded, including women.

"The suicide attack was carried out by an underage bomber, a boy we think 13 or 15 years old, killing at least four and wounding over a dozen more civilians," interior ministry spokesman Najib Danish told AFP.

A police spokesman said the attacker may have been as young as 12.

Defense ministry spokesman Dawlat Waziri said the bomber "made it through the first checkpoint but was stopped at the second checkpoint and detonated." 

"We don't know the target but it happened a few meters from the defense ministry's foreign relations office. There were no casualties to our personnel," Waziri said.

The attack is a setback for Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, who had promised to beef up the security of the diplomatic zone after the truck bomb detonated outside the German embassy five months ago.

Ghani immediately ordered an investigation into how Tuesday's attacker had been able to enter the supposedly secure area.

A Western security source told AFP he had repeatedly warned Afghan authorities about lax security at the checkpoint targeted by the bomber.

'Horrible scene' 

The attack struck the heart of the city's diplomatic area, where many embassies and the offices of major international organizations including the United Nations and NATO's Resolute Support mission are located.

"I was 100 meters away when the explosion happened and as I ran towards the site I saw several people lying in blood — one had been hit in the head and was moving. It was a horrible scene," an eyewitness told TOLOnews.
Another witness told AFP: "A lot of people were dead and injured and there was no one to carry them away."

AFP reporters heard a loud explosion around 4:00 p.m. just as workers would have been leaving their offices to go home, followed by the sirens of emergency services. Many injured people were carried from the scene of the blast, put into ambulances and police pickup trucks and driven away.

U.S. special charge d'affaires Hugo Llorens, America's top diplomat in Afghanistan in the absence of an ambassador, condemned the "cowardly attack" in a tweet.

The last major assault in Kabul was on October 21 when a suicide attacker hit a busload of Afghan army trainees, killing 15.

On October 20 a suicide bomber pretending to be a worshipper blew himself up inside a Shiite mosque in the city during evening prayers, killing 56 and wounding 55.

"The Taliban and IS are trying to demonstrate a lot of potency before the winter," Vanda Felbab-Brown, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, told AFP.

Security in Kabul has been ramped up since the May truck bomb that went off on the edge of the Green Zone, killing around 150 people and wounding 400 others.

Special truck scanners, barriers and permanent and mobile checkpoints have been rolled out across the city.

Earlier this month Kabul police stopped a lorry carrying 2,700 kilograms of explosives hidden under boxes of tomatoes, averting a potentially deadly blast.

"There will -- and should -- be a careful investigation whether the security lapse included corruption among" Afghan security forces, Felbab-Brown said.

Source:AFP

themuslimchronicle
themuslimchronicle

Name *

E-mail *

Comment Title*

Comment *

: Characters Left

Mandatory *

Terms of use

Publishing Terms: Not to offend the author, or to persons or sanctities or attacking religions or divine self. And stay away from sectarian and racial incitement and insults.

I agree with the Terms of Use

Security Code*

suicide bomber attacks kabuls diplomatic zone suicide bomber attacks kabuls diplomatic zone

 



Themuslimchronicle, themuslimchronicle

GMT 11:36 2018 Thursday ,04 January

Mountain bike world champ seriously hurt in car crash

GMT 12:47 2016 Saturday ,24 September

How to save endangered species

GMT 12:08 2011 Tuesday ,22 November

Mini Éclairs

GMT 11:17 2017 Thursday ,16 November

UN warns fuel running out

GMT 09:11 2017 Monday ,25 September

German campaign takeaways and challenges

GMT 22:02 2017 Tuesday ,19 September

Tariq Yahia says his team is ready

GMT 22:17 2017 Sunday ,01 January

Israeli forces nab 6 Palestinians in WB

GMT 11:08 2017 Thursday ,14 September

New Zealand opposition looks

GMT 19:26 2014 Tuesday ,30 December

Bahrain to implement several development projects

GMT 17:08 2016 Friday ,18 November

South Korea blocks Google export of map data

GMT 13:34 2012 Thursday ,16 February

Q&A: Tuition fees

GMT 04:08 2011 Thursday ,06 October

US dominates university global rankings

GMT 14:15 2013 Thursday ,07 March

The £599 anti-ageing cream formulated by NASA

GMT 16:15 2011 Sunday ,11 December

Iran starts exams for nanotechnology teachers

GMT 07:13 2015 Tuesday ,14 April

Nokia: It is in talks to buy all of Alcatel-Lucent

GMT 13:19 2012 Monday ,12 March

I\'m grateful to Al-Haya

GMT 14:09 2011 Tuesday ,19 April

US urges Pakistan to continue economic reforms

GMT 09:32 2016 Wednesday ,07 December

Injured Rose was '50-50' for HK Open defence
Themuslimchronicle, themuslimchronicle
Themuslimchronicle, themuslimchronicle
 
 Themuslimchronicle Facebook,themuslimchronicle facebook  Themuslimchronicle Twitter,themuslimchronicle twitter Themuslimchronicle Rss,themuslimchronicle rss  Themuslimchronicle Youtube,themuslimchronicle youtube  Themuslimchronicle Youtube,themuslimchronicle youtube

Maintained and developed by Arabs Today Group SAL.
All rights reserved to Arab Today Media Group 2023 ©

Maintained and developed by Arabs Today Group SAL.
All rights reserved to Arab Today Media Group 2023 ©

muslimchronicle muslimchronicle muslimchronicle muslimchronicle
themuslimchronicle themuslimchronicle themuslimchronicle
themuslimchronicle
بناية النخيل - رأس النبع _ خلف السفارة الفرنسية _بيروت - لبنان
themuslimchronicle, themuslimchronicle, themuslimchronicle