Global charity attacked in wave of violence in Kabul

KABUL: Explosions rang out yesterday during an hours-long attack on an international charity in Kabul, the latest assault in a wave of violence in the Afghan capital that has killed at least 24 people and wounded dozens. The assault on CARE International began late Monday with a massive car bombing, just hours after the Taleban carried out a brazen double suicide attack near the defense ministry.

A plume of smoke rose over the upscale neighborhood of Shar-e Naw after the raid on the charity, located next to the office of Afghanistan’s former intelligence chief Rahmatullah Nabil. It remains unclear which compound was the intended target of the attack, which left piles of rubble and shards of broken glass strewn across the area. “An armed group launched an attack on what is believed to have been an Afghan government compound located close to the Kabul office of CARE,” the charity said, adding that its staff had been safely evacuated.

“The incident continued through the yesterday morning with damages sustained to the CARE compound.” The interior ministry said 42 people including 10 foreigners were rescued and added that no one was killed in the attack, revising its earlier toll of one fatality. “Our new investigation shows… only six people were wounded,” the ministry said in a statement, adding that all three assailants had been gunned down by Afghan forces.

No militant group has so far claimed responsibility for the raid on the charity, but it comes as the Taleban ramp up their nationwide offensive against the US-backed government. The attack had been preceded by twin Taleban blasts that killed at least 24 people during the city’s rush hour on Monday, including high-level officials, and left 91 others wounded. The second of the two explosions struck just as soldiers, policemen and civilians hurried to help the victims of the first blast, which occurred on a bridge near the ministry. High-level defense officials were among those killed, including a young military officer-and further compounding the tragedy, his mother also died as soon as she heard of his death.

“Colonel Ahmed’s mother died of a heart attack after hearing of her son’s martyrdom,” former deputy interior minister Ayub Salangi tweeted. “She lost two other sons before him.” Ambulances rushed to the scene, littered with disfigured bodies and charred debris. But there were so many bodies that some had to be taken to hospitals in car boots and the back of police pickup trucks. Firemen raced to retrieve some bodies thrown into the Kabul River by the intensity of the first blast on the bridge.

Rising insecurity

 Health ministry spokesman Waheed Majroh said the casualties from the double bombing could rise still further as some of the wounded battled for their lives in hospital. “The enemies of Afghanistan have lost their ability to fight the security and defense forces of the country,” President Ashraf Ghani said on Monday, condemning the twin blasts. “That is why they are attacking highways, cities, mosques, schools and common people.”

Taleban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said on Twitter the defense ministry was the object of the first attack, while police were targeted in the second. The violence comes more than a week after 16 people were killed when militants stormed the American University in Kabul. Earlier in August two professors from the university, an American and an Australian, were kidnapped at gunpoint near the campus. Their whereabouts are still unknown and no group has publicly claimed responsibility for the abductions.

The uptick in violence in the capital comes as the Taleban escalate nationwide attacks, underscoring the worsening security situation and the heavy price paid by civilians since NATO forces ended their combat mission at the end of 2014. Afghan forces backed by US troops are trying to head off a potential Taleban takeover of Lashkar Gah, the capital of the southern opium-rich province of Helmand. The Taleban have also recently closed in on Kunduz-the northern city they briefly seized last year in their biggest military victory since the 2001 US invasion-leaving Afghan forces stretched on multiple fronts._ AFP </s> At least one person has been killed in an ongoing attack on a charity in central Kabul, the interior ministry said Tuesday, after a wave of explosions hit the Afghan capital.

The attack on a charity called Pamlarena began late Monday, hours after a Taliban double bombing killed at least 24 people and left 91 others wounded, said ministry spokesman Sediq Sediqqi.

Pamlarena means care in Pashto, but it was unclear if the assault was on the international charity, Care.

"We believe two attackers have entered the building. Unfortunately one civilian has been killed and six others wounded," Sediqqi told AFP.

Care International was not immediately reachable for comment.

The attack began after a third massive explosion jolted Kabul late Monday, which was followed by erratic gunfire.

That blast came just hours after high-level officials, including an army general, were killed in the twin blasts near the defence ministry, as the Taliban ramp up their nationwide offensive against the US-backed government.

The violence highlights the deteriorating security situation in the country, which has taken a heavy toll on civilians. </s> KABUL, Afghanistan — A 13-year-old suicide bomber blew himself up at a wedding in eastern Afghanistan's Nangarhar province, killing five people and injuring 11 others.

Police official Fayz Mohammad Babarkhil said the child blew himself up early Friday at a wedding organized by Malik Toor, a commander of a pro-government militia. Toor died in the attack, and officials said he was the likely target of the bomber. The attack took place in Pachirwa Agham district of Nangarhar province.

No one took responsibility for the attack, but both the Taliban and the Islamic State affiliate have a strong presence in eastern Afghanistan, and the IS group is headquartered in Nangarhar province. </s> KABUL, Afghanistan : A 13-year-old suicide bomber blew himself up at a wedding early Friday in eastern Afghanistan's Nangarhar province, killing five people and injuring 11 others, police officials said.

Among those killed was Malik Toor, a commander of a pro-government militia who had organized the wedding, police official Fayz Mohammad Babarkhil said.

Officials said Toor was the likely target of the attack, which took place in Pachirwa Agham district of Nangarhar province.

No one took responsibility for the bombing, but the Taliban said it was not involved in the wedding explosion, according to a statement posted on its official website.

Both the Taliban and the Islamic State affiliate have a strong presence in eastern Afghanistan, and the IS group is headquartered in Nangarhar province. </s> KABUL, Afghanistan – A suicide bomb attack at a wedding in Kabul Saturday killed 63 people and wounded 182, an Afghan Interior Ministry spokesman said.

Among the victims were women and children, spokesman Nasrat Rahimi said. About 20 people were taken to a Kabul hospital run by the Italian NGO Emergency, the organization said.

“We were planning to sleep when we heard the sound of a loud explosion,” a witness who lives near the venue and did not want to be identified told CNN.

“When I came outside, I saw smoke coming out of the hall. I saw dead bodies and wounded people, who were being taken to hospitals by policemen and Kabul ambulances. We are too in shock, too upset by the incident.”

ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack. It said a Pakistani fighter detonated an explosive vest amid a large gathering of Shia Muslims, reported the SITE Intelligence Group, which monitors terrorist group activities.

The terror group also said a car bombing followed the initial attack, added SITE.

Afghanistan’s President Ashraf Ghani condemned the attack and said that despite the Taliban’s denials of responsibility, it still shared some of the blame because it “provides a platform for terrorists.”

“My top priority for now is to reach out to the families of victims of this barbaric attack,” Ghani said on Twitter.

He added that in response to the attack, he had “called an extraordinary security meeting to review and prevent such security lapses.”

The venue is in western Kabul, an area home to many of Afghanistan’s Shiite Hazara minority. It is also near the Darul Aman palace, where President Ashraf Ghani is expected to celebrate Afghan Independence Day Monday.

Earlier this month, 14 people were killed and 145 injured in the same district when three suicide attackers detonated an improvised explosive device at the gate of the police headquarters.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the August 7 attack, even as the terror group negotiates a peace plan with Washington.
A suicide bomber attacks a charity in the Kabul suburb of Shāre Naw with the Taliban claiming responsibility.