Relatively untouched so far by Taliban military advances, Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan, was rocked on the evening of Tuesday, August 3, about two hours apart, by two strong explosions.

One of them was attributed, by security sources, to a vehicle bomb near the home of the Minister of Defense, in the center of Kabul, near the "Green Zone", the district containing the diplomatic missions. .

"Don't worry, everything is fine," Minister Bismillah Mohammadi simply tweeted, without further details, about an hour after the explosion.

Several detonations of less intensity followed the second explosion, which occurred around 10 p.m. local (5.30 p.m. GMT) and whose origin was not immediately known.

Heavy gunfire continued to be heard in central Kabul, 30 minutes after it.

No official record of these two explosions was immediately available.

MP targeted by car bomb

The first explosion, heard in several neighborhoods of the Afghan capital, was that of a car bomb driven by a suicide bomber targeting the house of a deputy, next to the home of the Minister of Defense, said on condition of anonymity. several security sources, adding that the attackers had managed to enter the deputy.

“Terrorists detonated a car full of explosives in a residential area of ​​Kabul this evening (Tuesday). As a result, a number of terrorists entered homes and clashed with security forces. Special police officers are on site and have started cleaning up operations, ”Interior Ministry spokesman Mirwais Stanekzai said.

According to witnesses, several houses belonging to representatives, elected officials and personalities were besieged during the clashes.

An Afghan security source reported three people killed and two injured in this first explosion.

Emergency hospital services said they had admitted six injured.

Civilians victims of the fighting in Lashkar Gah

Meanwhile, deadly fighting continues in southern Afghanistan, Lashkar Gah, during which 40 civilians were killed in 24 hours, according to the UN.

There, the Afghan army called on the population to "leave (their) homes as soon as possible".  

02:52

"We will face" the Taliban and "fight them hard", warned General Sami Sadat, the highest ranking army officer in southern Afghanistan.

"We will not leave a single Taliban alive (...) Leave as soon as possible so that we can start our operation."

Earlier on Tuesday, the UN Mission in Afghanistan (Unama) tweeted "its deep concern for Afghan civilians in Lashkar Gah, where fighting is escalating", calling for "an immediate end to fighting in the urban areas ".

The Afghan forces, which so far have offered little resistance to the Taliban's military advance, essentially control only the provincial capitals, three of which have recently been the target of insurgent attacks.

With AFP and Reuters

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