3 wounded in suicide attack on passport office in Afghan capital

Kabul, Dec 23 (EFE).- At least three members of the Taliban security forces were injured on Thursday in a suicide attack at a passport office in Kabul, according to official sources.

“A suicidal attacker tried to enter the passport office, but security forces prevented him from entering. Three members of the security forces were injured,” Qari Ahmad, the police chief of Police District-3, where the incident took place, told EFE.

The Taliban’s Interior Ministry said on Twitter that the attack took place at the entrance of the central passport department, but no deaths occurred except that of the attacker.

So far, no group has claimed the attack.

The passport services resumed in Kabul on Oct.5, after remaining suspended since the Taliban seized power with the capture of the capital on Aug.15.

Faced with the large number of requests from people from all over the country and the complications of moving to the Afghan capital, the Taliban announced that passports services would also be available in several other parts of the country.

Tens of thousands of Afghans have requested appointment for passports after the Taliban victory forced commercial flights to be suspended to prioritize international evacuations.

The presence of foreign troops ended on Aug.31 with the departure of the last US troops after more than two decades of occupation.

The return of the Islamists to power in August, whose first government between 1996 and 2001 was marked by their strict interpretation of the Sharia (Islamic law) and human rights violations, led to the exodus of a large number of citizens. EFE

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