A massive explosion erupted in western Kabul on Wednesday (August 7th), showing a smoke mushroom in the sky and fearing large civilian casualties, according to witnesses and a security source.
Authorities said a car bomb exploded in rush hour in front of a police station in the Afghan capital, killing at least 14 people and injuring 145 others, "the majority of them women and children," the official said. spokesperson for the Ministry of Health, Wahidullah Mayar.
Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid claimed responsibility for the attack on social networks, adding that he had been committed by a suicide bomber.
The explosion occurred around 9:00 am (4:30 GMT) when the vehicle approached a checkpoint near the building, said a spokesman for the Interior Ministry.
According to a visible video on social networks and witnesses, small arms fire was heard after the blast.
#AFG Aftermath of the car bomb PD6, Kabul city, video via Social media. pic.twitter.com/dCPC2PVmco
BILAL SARWARY (@bsarwary) August 7, 2019Prevent the holding of the election
"I heard a big boom and all the windows of my shop were broken," said Ahmad Saleh, a shopkeeper. And to add: "The windows of about twenty stores, some one kilometer from the site of the explosion, were blown".
On the eve of the attack, the Taliban promised to do everything possible to prevent the holding of the presidential election scheduled for 28 September in Afghanistan.
Talks between the United States and Taliban representatives
Violence increased dramatically in the country in July, the bloodiest month since May 2017. More than 1,500 people were killed and injured in Afghanistan, according to the UN.
Tuesday at the end of the day in the capital, at least five people were killed and seven injured in an attack on a vehicle of government anti-narcotics services. On the night of Tuesday to Wednesday, Afghan Special Forces stormed several hideouts of members of the Afghan branch of the Islamic State Organization (IEO). The details of this operation have not been revealed.
The violence continues despite talks between the United States and Taliban representatives in Doha, Qatar. The day before, however, both parties had welcomed the "excellent progress" made and hoped to sign a bilateral peace agreement.
With AFP and Reuters