There were twin explosions in the heart of Kabul, Afghanistan, on Thursday, killing six persons including a British citizen. It was a clear message that the security situation in the Afghan capital is far from being guaranteed as the U.S and its allies draw down their combatant forces.
The first explosion was a car bomb that targeted British embassy convoy in the east of the city, killing a British interpreter and four other Afghan civilians. The police said that other 35 people were wounded.
The evening suicide attack was on a foreign guest house near the International Relief & Development Organization compound and was followed by gunmen storming in, according to the chief of Kabul police, Gen. Mohammad Zahir.
The Virginia-based relief agency, which works closely with the U.S. Agency for International Development, is located in an area where there is a concentration of embassies, nongovernmental organizations and restaurants frequented by foreigners.
A Deputy Interior Minister Mohammed Ayub Salangi later said, in addition to the suicide bomber, there were two gunmen both of whom were killed. A Nepalese guard at the compound was wounded, but no other foreigners were injured or killed.
While they were still in shock, other explosion and gun shots could still be heard from the same area.
From the whole indications, it was very clear that the Taliban were behind the attacks, the latest attacks was wholly against the foreign military and civilians.
British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond, confirmed that a British national member of the civilian security team at the embassy and an Afghan national working for the embassy were killed. He said in a statement that a second British member of the security team was injured.
“I condemn this appalling attack on innocent civilians supporting our diplomatic activity,” Hammond said. “This outrage brings home to us once again the courage and perseverance of the people of Afghanistan and members of the international community who support them, who have lived together through decades of conflict.”
ISAF commander, Gen. John F. Campbell, also condemned the “despicable attack” by the Taliban.
“Those who commit such murderous acts have no place in the future of this country,” he said in a statement.
Eye witnesses said the explosion was large enough to send the British armored vehicle airborne, tossing the wreckage nearly 40 yards from the initial blast site, while sending shrapnel and broken glass into the various shops and businesses along the Kabul-Jalalabad Road, making it clear that it was tactfully planned.
At the scene of the evening attack, Afghan Interior Ministry spokesman Sediq Sediqqi speculated that the Taliban were sending a message that parliament’s approval of key agreements with the United States and NATO regarding the terms of continued international troop presence is “not tolerable.”
“The message they want to send is clear, security is not easy to come by,” Sediqqi said.
On Monday, two U.S. soldiers were killed when a bomb attached to a bicycle struck their convoy as it moved through the same Kabul neighborhood where Thursday’s attack took place.
The Americans were identified late Wednesday, by the Department of Defense as Sgt. Maj. Wardell B. Turner, 48, assigned to Headquarters, U.S. Army Garrison Fort Drum, N.Y., and Spc. Joseph W. Riley, 27, assigned to 1st Battalion, 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, Fort Bragg, N.C.
Earlier this month, Taliban fighters attacked the Green Village foreign contractor compound and the offices of Supreme Group logistics company, both located in the same eastern Kabul neighborhood. In both of those strikes, truck bombs were used to breach the compound’s gates before insurgents attempted to overrun the facilities.
The deadliest attack this year took place Sunday, when a suicide bomber struck a volleyball tournament in Paktika province in eastern Afghanistan. The blast, which killed 61 people, mostly civilians, was reportedly aimed at high-ranking Afghan Local Police officials who were attending the tournament.
While the whole situations remain what it is even at the present, people appeared in all corner to be on the red alert as no one knows where it would happen again.
Ejinwa Anthony says
amen
Ejinwa Anthony says
us and British should deploy more combatant men down to afghan to help cool the temper since this taliban don’t wanna hear word
ubesie chukwuebuka chidiogo says
God save his children .