As bargaining for an agreement continues between the United States and Afghan insurgents, a new suicide bombing claimed by the Taliban rocked Kabul on Thursday (September 5th), killing at least 10 people, including two NATO soldiers.

The car bomb attack took place in the middle of the morning in the Shash-Darak district, near the Green Zone - an ultra-secure perimeter where several embassies are located.

The attack left 10 dead and 42 wounded, Interior Ministry spokesman Nasrat Rahimi told reporters, initially referring only to civilian casualties.

Two soldiers of the NATO Resolute Support mission, a Romanian and an American, are also among the dead, NATO said in a statement. Another Romanian soldier was killed in another Taliban attack on Monday.

In June 2019, Romania had more than 750 soldiers in the Resolute Support mission.

"Everything has become dark"

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack, their spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said on Twitter, claiming he was targeting "a convoy of foreign invaders" and had killed "12 invaders and 8 members of the NDS (the secret services agfhans)" .

The explosion took place near a checkpoint, said an Afghan security source. It allows access to the NDS complex.

The owner of a photo studio near the site of the explosion told AFP by telephone that he had "seen at least five people seriously injured, one was covered in blood and did not move". "I was in my shop with two customers, including a stranger, when the explosion came, I fell off my chair and everything went dark because of smoke and dust," he said. .

A video posted on Twitter apparently shows the moment of the attack. In these images, a gray minivan tries to force the passage by reversing a light barrier, just before a violent explosion. At least one civilian is running at the same time, while at least three large white SUVs are waiting to enter the NDS complex.

Towards a withdrawal of thousands of US servicemen ?

The Afghan capital had already been the scene on Monday of an attack that left 16 dead, also claimed by the Taliban.

According to analysts, the insurgents' strategy is to increase their pressure on Washington as the conclusion of an agreement on a gradual withdrawal of US forces from Afghanistan seems very close. This draft agreement, negotiated for months between Washington and the Taliban, aims to end an 18-year-old conflict.

The attacks of Monday and Thursday intervene further while the American special correspondent, Zalmay Khalilzad, was at the beginning of the week in the Afghan capital. He briefed Afghan President Ashraf Ghani on the elements of a "principled" agreement negotiated with the Taliban.

The agreement must allow the withdrawal of several thousand American soldiers from the country. The Taliban would undertake in exchange to prevent any activity of terrorist groups in the territory and to enter into dialogue with the current government.

With AFP