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Kabul Suicide attack kills 30, wounds 330

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(Last Updated On: October 25, 2022)

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A Taliban suicide bomb and gun assault on a government security agency during Tuesday morning rush hour in capital, Kabul killed 30 people and injured more than 330, as Taliban insurgents last week launched their annual spring offensive.

The assault targeted a building, which officials say houses a special unit of the Afghan security force working under the Afghan spy agency and responsible for protecting government officials.

The blast ripped through the city, rattling windows several miles away, and was followed by gunfire as attackers took cover in nearby buildings.

The bombing happened during the morning rush hour in Pul-e-Mahmud, a busy neighborhood where homes, mosques, schools and businesses nestle close to the Ministry of Defence, other ministries and military compounds.

Witnesses described  smoke was seen rising near state buildings which include the country’s intelligence offices.

The sound of the initial 9 a.m. blast spread for miles throughout the city. Residents said the sound of gunfire lasted for at least two hours following the initial blast.

Spokesman of Interior Ministry, Sidiq Sidiqi in a press conference said that two militants were involved in the attack.

One drove the small truck rigged with hundreds of kilograms of explosives. The second entered the compound in the aftermath of the explosion and opened fire before he was eventually killed.

“With no doubt there was a security vacuum and that needs to investigated, it is too early to comment on that right now,” Sidiqi said.

President Ashraf Ghani condemned the assault “in the strongest possible terms” in a statement from the presidential palace, located only a few hundred meters away from the scene of the blast.

Chief Executive Officer, (CEO) Abdullah Abdullah says the attack is a clear sign that the terror groups suppressed by Afghan forces and now seek for revenge.

Taliban claimed responsibility for carrying out the blast and said there were no civilian causalities.

But confirming the toll, Kabul chief of police, Gen. Abdul Rahman Rahimi said the majority of those killed were civilians, including women and children.

The ministry of public health said nearly 327 people were wounded in the incident including women and children; adding serious measures were taken in all hospitals of Kabul.

Emergency, an Italian-run hospital for war wounded in Kabul, said it had received 22 casualties, most of them members of the security forces, and most lightly injured. Luca Radaelli, Emergency’s medical coordinator, said numbers could rise because it had been difficult to evacuate victims while the fighting continued.

In the meantime, the Afghan parliament condemned the Kabul suicide attack and considered these terror incidents a clear message to the international community to target the main roots of insurgents.

The Parliament’s administrative board called for identifying and punishing the main perpetrators of this incident.

The first deputy of Senate House has also stressed that the enemies of Afghanistan would not reach targets with launching such attacks.

In separate statement the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) condemned the Taliban attack in Kabul.

“This attack shows the devastation caused by the use of explosive devices in urban areas and once more demonstrates complete disregard for the lives of Afghan civilians,” said Tadamichi Yamamoto, the Secretary-General’s Deputy Special Representative for Afghanistan. “The use of high explosives in civilian populated areas, in circumstances almost certain to cause immense suffering to civilians, may amount to war crimes.”

Gen. John W. Nicholson, the commander of NATO’s Resolute Support mission in Afghanistan has also condemned the attack.

“Today’s attack shows the insurgents are unable to meet Afghan forces on the battlefield and must resort to these terrorist attacks,” he said in a statement.

US Embassy is also condemning the Taliban attack in Kabul saying, it supports the Afghan government’s peace process to end such violence.

Tuesday’s attack in Kabul was a stinging blow to Afghan forces amid efforts to enhance security in the capital after a string of high-profile Taliban incursions.

The blast comes as Taliban insurgents have intensified battlefield attacks in more than 15 Afghan provinces as part of their annual spring offensive.

It has also been buoyed by and a flood of foreign fighters joining its ranks, and now controls sizeable parts of Afghanistan.                                      

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Kabul police summons Afghan YouTuber Hamayon

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(Last Updated On: March 29, 2024)

Afghanistan’s YouTuber Hamayon Afghan was summoned to the police station for publishing a woman’s interview without her permission, Kabul police said.

The spokesman of Kabul Police Khalid Zadran said Friday on X that Hamayon interviewed an old woman and published the report without her permission.

“After the interview, the interviewee’s family complained to the police and the police summoned Hamayon Afghan to the police station,” said Zadran.

Zadran stated that police are working to solve the problem with the two sides’ agreement as soon as possible.

He urges people to avoid posting rumors on the issue.

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Contract worth $53 million signed for construction of last section of Khaf–Herat railway

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(Last Updated On: March 29, 2024)

A contract worth $53 million was signed Thursday for the construction of the last section of Khaf-Herat railway that connects Afghanistan with Iran.

The contract was signed between Afghanistan Railway Authority and Gamma Group in the presence of Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, his office said in a statement.

The segment is 47-kilometer long, stretching from Rabat Parian to Herat International Airport and the Industrial Town, according to the statement.

It added that completion and standard operational readiness are expected within approximately two years.

“Upon its completion, this segment will integrate the Khaf-Herat regional connectivity project with Iran’s significant seaports and facilitate access to Europe via the Turkish railway network,” the statement said.

“Furthermore, traversing Afghan territory, it will bolster commercial exchanges between Central and South Asia. Notably, this project’s realization will enable the expansion of railway networks into Farah, Nimruz, Helmand, and Kandahar provinces,” it added.

Gamma operates across Europe and Asia in multiple sectors including construction, renewable energy, power transmission, mining, railways among others.

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US urges IEA to fulfill counter-terrorism commitments

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(Last Updated On: March 29, 2024)

The US State Department said on Thursday that Washington is committed to ensuring that Afghanistan can never again be a launching pad for terrorism.

“We remain committed to ensuring that Afghanistan can never again be a launching pad for terrorism, and we continue to push the Taliban (Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan) to fulfill all of their counterterrorism commitments to the international community,” the department’s spokesperson Matthew Miller said at a news briefing in Washington.

He reiterated that the United States had clearly communicated to the IEA that it’s their responsibility to ensure that “they give no safe haven to terrorists, whether it be Al Qaeda or ISIS-K or any other terrorist organization”.

Miller also reassured US allies that Washington was closely watching the developments in Afghanistan and was ready to deal with any threat emerging from the region.

“We remain vigilant against the evolving threat of these terrorist groups, and our global coalition to defeat ISIS and the C5+1 help intensify our efforts to monitor terrorist threats from the region and prevent their ability to raise funds, travel, and spread propaganda,” he said.

C5+1 refers to a diplomatic platform involving the five Central Asian states (Kazakhstan, Kyrgy­zstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan) and the United States. It serves as a forum for discussing and addressing regional issues such as security, economic development, and cooperation.

“The United States remains vigilant against the evolving threat posed by terrorist groups, including ISIS-K, and has maintained an unwavering focus on terrorism since President Joe Biden took office three years ago,” Miller said.

The US, he said, was “working both unilaterally and with its partners to successfully disrupt threats across the globe and degrade ISIS”.

“We will continue to work to hold ISIS accountable for its actions and to prevent terrorist attacks against the United States and other Western countries,” Miller said.

This comes as IEA has repeatedly said that it is committed to not allowing anyone to use Afghanistan soil against any other country.

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