14 killed, but returning VP Dostum unharmed

KABUL —Afghanistan's first vice president, Gen. Abdul Rashid Dostum, a former Uzbek warlord, escaped unharmed from an explosion near the airport as he returned home on yesterday after living in Turkey for over a year, according to security officials.

Najib Danish, a spokesman 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. Dostum and his entourage were unharmed, said Danish, but added that 14 people, including both civilians and military forces, were killed in the attack and 50 others wounded.

The Islamic States group's local affiliate claimed responsibility for the attack on its Amaaq News Agency website. In a statement from the presidential palace, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani strongly condemned the attack.

Dostum had been undergoing medical treatment in Turkey, and is now well and ready to resume work, said presidential spokesman 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.

ASSOCIATED PRESS Afghan security personnel stand guard next to wounded comrades at the site of an attack near the Kabul International Airport in Afghanistan, shortly after the country's controversial first vice president Gen. Abdul Rashid Dostum landed on his return...