Suicide attack on Turkish diplomatic vehicle kills two

ATTACK IN KABUL CLAIMS LIVES OF TURKISH NATIONAL, AFGHAN PASSER-BY, POLICE SAY

ATaliban suicide attack targeting a Turkish diplomatic vehicle belonging to the Nato mission killed two people in Kabul yesterday, highlighting the fragile security situation as the Afghan government presses for talks with the militants.

The blast came shortly after 8am, not far from the Iranian embassy. Police said the dead included a Turkish national and an Afghan passer-by.

Police initially said the vehicle was from the Turkish embassy, but a spokesman for the Nato mission in Afghanistan later confirmed it was part of a coalition convoy.

Kabul police spokesman Hashmat Stanikzai gave details of the attack and death toll, saying the bomber was driving a Toyota Corolla.

‘Black smoke everywhere’

Abdul Rahman Rahimi, Kabul police chief, confirmed the death toll in the blast, which the Taliban claimed responsibility for.

“A suicide bomber blew himself up targeting a foreign convoy in central Kabul, a number of foreigners were killed in the attack,” the militants said in an SMS message.

The area was

cordoned

off after the blast, which left debris strewn in the road and nearby blast walls spattered with blood.

Mohammad Yousuf, 17, described the moment the blast happened. “The suicide bomber was in a Toyota sedan, he detonated himself causing a big bang, soon after the explosion there was black smoke everywhere.”

It is the first major attack in Kabul’s heavily secured centre since early January, when a suicide bomber hit a European Union police vehicle, killing a passer-by.

More than 13 years after the Taliban were ousted from power after a US-led invasion, their insurgency remains resilient.

Nato ended its combat mission in late December, leaving a residual force to carry on a training and support mission to Afghanistan’s 350,000 security forces, who now lead the fight against the Taliban.

There have been growing hopes in recent weeks of talks between Kabul and the Taliban aimed at moving towards reconciliation.

Afghanistan’s chief executive Abdullah Abdullah said on Monday dialogue with the Taliban could begin soon and last week several militant commanders said preliminary meetings in Qatar were on the cards. But the Taliban’s central leadership has denied such moves.

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