Kabul explosion kills 14

KABUL— Afghanistan’s first vicepresident, a former Uzbek warlord, escaped unharmed from an explosion near the airport as he returned home Sunday after living in Turkey for over a year, according to security officials.

Najib Danish, a spokesperson for the Interior Ministry, said a suicide bomber carried out the attack near Kabul International Airport shortly after the convoy of the country’s controversial first vice-president had left the airport.

Gen. Abdul Rashid Dostum and his entourage were unharmed, Danish said.

Danish said that 14 people, including both civilians and military forces, were killed in the attack and 50 others wounded.

Daesh’s local affiliate claimed responsibility for the attack on its Amaaq News Agency website.

Dostum had been undergoing medical treatment in Turkey, and is now well and ready to resume work, said presidential spokesperson Haroon Chakhansuri. Dostum left Afghanistan in 2017 after the attorneygeneral’s office launched an investigation into allegations that his followers had tortured and sexually abused a former ally turned political rival. He has since reportedly been barred by the government from returning to Afghanistan. It was not immediately clear whether Dostum will now face any charges. Dostum, accused of war crimes committed after the fall of the Taliban government in 2001, has also been criticized by the United States for human rights abuses.