Taliban claim Kabul bombing targeting defence minister

KABUL: The Taliban on Wednesday claimed responsibility for a huge bomb attack in Kabul targeting the defence minister as the insurgents fought for control of a string of besieged cities.

The bomb-and-gun attack on Defence Minister Bismillah Mohammadi Tuesday was one of the biggest in Kabul for months, bringing violence to the capital after intense fighting in the south and west of the country.

The Afghan and US militaries have carried out air strikes against the insurgents to push them back, and the Taliban said the Kabul attack was a response to that.

“The attack is the beginning of the retaliatory operations against the circles and leaders of the Kabul administration who are ordering attacks and the bombing of different parts of the country,” Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said in a statement on social media.

The Tuesday attack targeted Mohammadi as well as some lawmakers. The first bomb exploded in the centre of Kabul, sending a thick plume of smoke into the sky, AFP correspondents reported.

Less than two hours later, there was another loud blast followed by smaller explosions and rapid gunfire, also near the high-security Green Zone that houses several embassies, including the US mission.

The minister was safe and Afghan forces repelled the attackers, but at least eight people were killed, according to interior ministry spokesman Mirwais Stanikzai.

Mohammadi later said it was a suicide car bomb attack targeting his house. A security source said several attackers stormed a lawmaker´s house after setting off the car bomb and shot at the residence of the defence minister from there.

Security forces had cordoned off the scene of the attack on Wednesday as troops inspected the buildings and cars damaged by the blasts. Rubble covered the area while there were bloodstains on some of the floors.

There was little respite in Kabul early Wednesday after a blast injured three people, according to police.

The Taliban threat came after the Afghan military launched a counterattack against the insurgents in the southern city of Lashkar Gah. The military had asked people to leave the city on Tuesday as they prepared for their offensive.

The insurgents have taken control of vast swathes of the countryside and key border towns, taking advantage of the security vacuum left by the withdrawal of US forces. The Taliban are now targeting cities, with fierce fighting for a week around Herat near the western border with Iran, as well as Lashkar Gah and Kandahar in the south.

The Afghan military counterattack came after another night of heavy clashes with the Taliban. The loss of Lashkar Gah, the capital of southern Helmand province, would be a massive strategic and psychological blow for the government. The United Nations reported on Tuesday that at least 40 civilians had been killed in Lashkar Gah in the previous 24 hours.

Meanwhile, Human Rights Watch accused that the Taliban of “summarily” executing detained soldiers, police and civilians with alleged ties to the Afghan government in areas they had recently seized.