RTMon, 05 Sep 2016 14:48 UTC
© Mohammad Ismail / ReutersAfghan policemen stand guard at the site of a blast in Kabul, Afghanistan September 5, 2016.
Twenty-four people were killed and more than 90 injured in twin blasts that hit near the Afghan Defense Ministry in the capital Kabul, according to a Ministry of Public Health spokesman cited by Reuters.
The first explosion was reported to be small, and when people gathered to find out what was happening another blast went off, according to local media reports that cite eyewitnesses.The attack happened in a crowded area of the city near government buildings as well as a market and a main intersection, Defense Ministry spokesman Mohammad Radmanesh said, according to Reuters.
The Taliban has claimed responsibility for the blasts. The terrorist group's main spokesman said that the first explosion near the Defense Ministry and other government departments was followed minutes later by a larger suicide attack.
About two weeks ago, 13 people were killed in a suicide attack on the American University in Kabul.
Comment: The number of dead is at least 36 by this time,
including a police chief and a high-ranking Defense Ministry official. Just hours after this twin attack, a
massive car bomb hit Kabul's upscale Shar-e-Naw neighborhood, followed by gunfire. Afghanistan's Interior Ministry said a suicide bomber detonated the car, but the actual target was unclear (early reports suggested Defense Ministry personnel were the targets). The gunfire was initiated by two additional attackers who entered a nearby building believed to be a guest house for visiting foreigners and diplomats (i.e., spies?), taking hostages. RFE/RL
reports on the standoff with the (now three) gunfighters:
The Afghan Interior Ministry says security forces have killed the last gunman involved in an attack in an upscale neighborhood that is home to many government facilities and the headquarters of many foreign organizations.
Interior Ministry spokesman Sediq Sediqqi said in a message posted on Twitter on September 6 that all three attackers who took hostages in a siege that lasted nearly 11 hours in the Shar-e Now (New City) neighborhood were now dead.
Earlier, Sediqqi said one civilian had been killed and six others wounded in the attack. The attack started with a suicide bombing around midnight on September 5. "Forty-two people including 10 foreigners have been rescued," Sediqqi said.
The charity Care International said that the armed group launched the attack on an Afghan government compound near to its Kabul office. It said all its staff members were evacuated, safe, and accounted for.
The three gunmen had reportedly barricaded themselves in close to an office of Care International.
Comment: The number of dead is at least 36 by this time, including a police chief and a high-ranking Defense Ministry official. Just hours after this twin attack, a massive car bomb hit Kabul's upscale Shar-e-Naw neighborhood, followed by gunfire. Afghanistan's Interior Ministry said a suicide bomber detonated the car, but the actual target was unclear (early reports suggested Defense Ministry personnel were the targets). The gunfire was initiated by two additional attackers who entered a nearby building believed to be a guest house for visiting foreigners and diplomats (i.e., spies?), taking hostages. RFE/RL reports on the standoff with the (now three) gunfighters: