Suicide bomber kills 3, injures 15 in Afghanistan’s capital Kabul

AFGHANISTAN A suicide bomber yesterday targeted a base belonging to Afghan special forces on the southern outskirts of the capital, Kabul, killing at least three civilians and wounding 15, officials said. The government blamed the Taliban for the attack, which took place a day after the country’s defense minister and the commander of US forces in Afghanistan visited the facility. The bombing happened outside the base for army commandos as civilian contractors working in the facility waited outside to get into the base, said a military official, speaking on condition of anonymity as he was not authorized to talk to the media about the attack. Tareq Arian, a spokesman for the Interior Ministry, said the site of the bombing was in the Chahar Asyab district and blamed the Taliban for the attack, calling it a crime against humanity. “The target was likely the base itself, but the bomber failed to reach his target and instead killed innocent civilians,” Arian said. No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, but both the Taliban and the Islamic State group are active in Kabul and its surroundings and have repeatedly struck military and civilian targets. Also yesterday, a sticky bomb attached to vehicle detonated elsewhere in Kabul, wounding three civilians, according to Firdaus Faramarz, spokesman for the Kabul police chief. No one claimed responsibility for that attack. The Taliban have continued to attack security outposts, even as the US and NATO proceed with a full troop withdrawal that is set to be completed next year under a deal signed at the end of February between the US peace envoy, Zalmay Khalilzad, and the Taliban. On Sunday, Khalilzad called on the country’s feuding political leaders to set their differences aside to combat the coronavirus pandemic and advance the stalled peace agreement signed with the Taliban. (Hindustan Times/ Foto:

Marine Corps Times)