Suicide bombers and gunmen attacked the communications ministry in central Kabul on Saturday, officials said, in an hours-long assault that destroyed weeks of relative calm in the capital.
The Taliban said it had “nothing to do” with the attack, which left some 2,000 people stranded in the tall office building for hours at the start of the Afghan work week.
No other group claimed immediate responsibility, but the Afghan branch of
the Islamic State group has previously carried out multiple deadly attacks in
the capital. “As a result of today’s explosion/attack in Kabul city, two
people have been martyred (killed) and 6 others are wounded,” the health
ministry spokesman wrote in a tweet, adding 3 of the injured were women.
https://english.dainiksomoysangbad24.com/2019/04/19/trump-to-be-first-foreign-leader-to-meet-japans-new-emperor-white-house/
AFP journalists heard one big blast around 11:40 am (0710 GMT), followed by
sporadic gunfire for hours afterwards.
“The information that we have is four attackers have placed themselves near
the communication ministry and are engaged in gun battles with the Afghan
security forces,” Amanduddin Shariati, a security official in Kabul told AFP.
By about 5:00 pm (1230 GMT), the interior ministry declared the assault
over.
“Operations finished. All suicide bombers killed & more than 2000 civilians
staff rescued,” the ministry said on Twitter.
Panicked workers inside the 18-storey building, believed to be Kabul’s
tallest, moved up to the top floor as gunmen and Afghan security officials
battled lower down.
One woman said she had been in a group of about 30 people on the 10th floor
when the assault started, then was told to move up to the 18th floor as
gunfire increased. They were all eventually rescued by commandos.
“Women were screaming and children of the kindergarten were the first to be
evacuated,” the woman, who did not want to be named, told AFP.
Afghan authorities gave conflicting reports during the incident. The
information ministry initially said three suicide bombers had attacked a post
office building at the ministry.
https://english.dainiksomoysangbad24.com/2019/04/19/malian-pm-resigns-as-anger-mounts-over-massacre/
General Sayed Mohammad Roshan Dil, the Kabul police chief, said four
attackers had been wearing police uniforms and had targeted a shrine near the
ministry.
Footage on local television showed a small plume at the building, and
people climbing out windows on a lower level.
The presidential palace said in a statement “the enemies of Afghanistan
have conducted a terrorist attack”.
“Once again they have created fear and have killed or wounded a number of
innocent countrymen,” the statement read.
– Spring offensive –
https://english.dainiksomoysangbad24.com/2019/04/18/heavy-security-as-indias-mega-vote-enters-second-round/
The communication ministry is located in downtown Kabul, about two
kilometres (1.25 miles) from the green zone, a heavily fortified compound for
foreign embassies.
The area is the city’s main commercial zone and is home to a large hotel.
Aside from a grenade attack on a military vehicle last week and persistent
crime, the capital has in recent weeks enjoyed a period of relative calm.
Last year however saw a string of attacks including one where a massive
bomb concealed in an ambulance killed more than 100 people.
The attack comes a week after the Taliban announced their annual spring
offensive and amid ongoing fighting across Afghanistan.
It illustrates the sprawling nature of Afghanistan’s conflict, and the
obstacles to peace even if a deal is reached with the Taliban.
https://english.dainiksomoysangbad24.com/2019/04/17/amid-worries-over-russia-sweden-returns-troops-to-baltic-island/
This week in the Qatari capital Doha, a summit planned between the Taliban
and officials from across Afghanistan was scrapped at the last minute due to
bickering over who should attend the conference.
The collapse comes at a critical time and amid continued bloodshed in Afghanistan, where the Taliban now control or influence about half of Afghanistan and 3,804 civilians were killed there last year, according to a UN tally. Taliban officials are separately negotiating with the United States, which wants to forge a peace deal with the militants.
