At least five killed, several wounded in foreign ministry bombing in Kabul
(Update: adds death toll)
Kabul, Jan 11 (EFE).- At least five people were killed and several were injured on Wednesday in a bombing outside the Foreign Ministry in Kabul, Taliban government sources told EFE.
The attack took place around 4pm local time on a street leading to the compound, foreign ministry spokesman Hafiz Zia Ahmad Takel told Efe.
“Five civilians died and several were wounded” as a result of the bombing, Takel added.
Eyewitness Nisar Khan told Efe that there were about 15 bodies on the ground moments after the explosion, without specifying whether they were dead or wounded, and said the Taliban had evacuated the area.
Post-blast images show several bodies lying on the ground, with people in the vicinity coming to their aid.
No organization has claimed responsibility yet, although it comes in the wake of a series of attacks claimed by the Islamist terror group Islamic State.
Afghanistan has seen a spike of violence since the Taliban seized power in August 2021 after the United States withdrew its troops from the war-ravaged country.
The Afghan branch of the Islamic State terror group has since emerged as the main threat to the country’s stability, even as the Taliban government denies that the Islamist militant network is a security challenge.
The Islamic State claimed responsibility for an attack in December that killed three members of the Taliban’s security forces, including a police commander, in northeastern Afghanistan.
On Dec. 12, the terror group attacked a hotel frequented by Chinese citizens in Kabul, in which three assailants lost their lives, and 18 people suffered injuries.
Several people were killed on January 1 when an IS suicide bomber entered the military zone of Kabul airport and blew himself up, although the Taliban government did not provide an official death toll.
Afghan security forces have stepped up operations to dismantle IS hideouts across the country in the wake of the surge of violent attacks claimed by the terror group. EFE
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