Dostum escapes blast on return from exile
SUICIDE BOMB ATTACK AS AFGHAN VICE-PRESIDENT EXITS AIRPORT
Afghan Vice-President Abdul Rashid Dostum narrowly escaped a suicide bomb attack at Kabul airport as he returned home yesterday from more than a year in exile in Turkey over allegations of torturing and abusing a political rival.
Dostum, who left Afghanistan last year after heavy pressure from Western donors including the United States, had exited the airport in a motorcade only minutes before the explosion, which police said killed at least 14 people and wounded more than 50.
He was unharmed in the blast. A little over a mile from where the attack took place, cheering supporters who had been waiting for hours gave him a red carpet reception at a rally at his office compound.
However, the incident underlined the increasingly volatile and unstable political climate in Kabul ahead of parliamentary elections in October that are seen as a dry run for more important presidential elections early next year.
Dostum’s triumphant return was in stark contrast to the outrage he faced after reports in 2016 that his guards had seized political rival Ahmad Eshchi and subjected him to beatings, torture and violent sexual abuse.
He denied Eshchi’s accusations but, amid international demands that he face justice to show that powerful political leaders were not above the law, he left the country in May last year, ostensibly to seek medical treatment in Turkey.
Even in exile, he remained a powerful figure with wide support among his fellow ethnic Uzbeks in northern Afghanistan.
Asuicide bomber killed or wounded at least 10 people at the entrance to Kabul international airport yesterday, officials said, as scores gathered to welcome home Afghan Vice-President Abdul Rashid Dostum from exile.
Senior government officials, political leaders and supporters were leaving the airport after greeting the powerful ethnic Uzbek leader and former warlord when the explosion happened.
Dostum, clad in a suit and sunglasses and travelling in an armoured vehicle, was unharmed, said his spokesman Bashir Ahmad Tayanj.
“We can confirm 10 people have been killed or wounded in the explosion caused by a suicide attacker on foot,” said interior ministry spokesman Najeeb Danish, without giving a breakdown.
He said civilians including a child and security force members were among the casualties.
Dostum, who is linked to a catalogue of human rights abuses in Afghanistan, was mobbed like a celebrity as he left the chartered plane from Turkey where he has lived since May 2017.
His return, which has been the subject of much speculation, comes amid violent protests in several provinces across northern Afghanistan, his traditional power base.
Thousands of Dostum’s supporters had taken to the streets in recent weeks, shuttering election and government offices and blocking sections of highways to demand the release of a progovernment militia leader and call for Dostum’s return.
Expectations of the return did little to quell the unrest, with protesters vowing yesterday to continue demonstrating until the burly leader of the Uzbek ethnic minority told them otherwise.
“We don’t trust the government. We will continue our protests unless General Dostum tells us to stop,” said Ehsanullah Qowanch, a protest leader in Faryab province.
Qowanch also repeated calls for the release of Nezamuddin Qaisari — a district police chief and Dostum’s provincial representative in Faryab — whose arrest earlier this month ignited the protests.
Another protester, Massoud Khan, said: “We have been on the streets for 20 days now. We are not going to stop our protests unless our demands are met.”
We can confirm 10 people have been killed or wounded in the explosion caused by a suicide attacker on foot. Civilians including a child were among the casualties.”
Najeeb Danish | Ministry spokesman