Explosion at Taliban's foreign ministry in Kabul
- In Reports
- 08:34 PM, Jan 11, 2023
- Myind Staff
A suicide bomber has detonated himself outside the foreign ministry in Afghanistan’s capital Kabul, with a senior police official saying the blast caused casualties.
A photo of the area, confirmed by official sources, showed at least twenty people wounded or killed, lying outside the ministry as security forces attended to them. The local police have confirmed the attack and the area has been cordoned off.
The blast hit around 4 p.m. local time (1130 GMT), Kabul's police spokesperson Khalid Zadran said. He did not provide details on the number of casualties, saying officials were investigating.
The blast reportedly happened when a Chinese delegation was meeting the Taliban at the foreign ministry. “There was supposed to be a Chinese delegation at the foreign ministry today, but we don’t know if they were present at the time of the blast,” deputy minister of information and culture Muhajer Farahi told AFP.
A driver with the AFP team waiting outside the information ministry next door saw a man with a backpack and rifle slung over his shoulder walk past before the man blew himself up. “He passed by my car and after a few seconds there was a loud blast,” Jamshed Karimi said. The blast came three days after at least 10 people were killed in an explosion that rocked Kabul's military airport.
The Taliban-run administration has faced an insurgency by Islamic State militants who have targeted foreigners at certain sites, including the Russian and Pakistani embassies and a hotel catering to Chinese businessmen.
Since the Taliban took over Afghanistan in August 2021, armed groups linked to the Afghan branch of the Islamic State have carried out bombings targeting ethnic Hazaras, Afghan Shias, Sufis, and others, killing and injuring hundreds.
Image source: Reuters
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