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Attack in Kabul Leaves Dozens Dead and Hundreds Hurt Taliban Send Message With Deadly Kabul Attack as Fighting Season Begins
(about 4 hours later)
KABUL, Afghanistan — The Taliban claimed responsibility for a huge truck bomb that exploded in central Kabul during Tuesday morning’s rush hour, underscoring fears about the group’s ability to penetrate the capital as fighting season intensifies. KABUL, Afghanistan — Even in a year when violence across Afghanistan did not relent over the winter months, the Taliban marked the official start of the spring fighting season with a massive truck bomb in the heart of Kabul on Tuesday.
The suicide bombing, which killed at least 30 people and wounded more than 300, was the deadliest attack in the capital since 2011. Beyond the all-too-familiar carnage — at least 30 dead and more than 300 wounded — it also sent a message: The Taliban can attack the capital at will, and they have no intention of engaging in peace talks despite reports of internal rifts.
The location of the bombing, near the compound of an elite force that provides protection to senior Afghan officials, also demonstrated how vulnerable the government remains.
The Taliban have stretched Afghan security forces thin throughout the country, with fighting raging across multiple provinces. But complex urban attacks remain crucial to the insurgency because they bring what even major battlefield gains in remote areas of the country cannot: headlines, and a disruption of daily life that increases pressure on a coalition government already struggling with infighting and stagnation.
Security forces in Kabul have been on high alert since the Taliban announced their annual spring offensive last week, amid reports that suicide bombers had entered the city and were planning attacks.Security forces in Kabul have been on high alert since the Taliban announced their annual spring offensive last week, amid reports that suicide bombers had entered the city and were planning attacks.
Sediq Sediqqi, a spokesman for the Interior Ministry, said the number of dead and wounded was expected to rise, since the blast went off in a crowded area near several government offices and a busy bus stop. As is often the case, most of the casualties in Tuesday’s assault were civilians, Afghan officials said. The United Nations, which recently said civilians had continued to suffer at record levels in the first quarter of this year, issued a strong denunciation of the attack.
Mr. Sediqqi said a truck full of “probably hundreds of kilograms of explosives” had been detonated behind the offices of the Directorate of Security for Dignitaries, an elite security force that provides protection to senior government officials. “The use of high explosives in civilian populated areas, in circumstances almost certain to cause immense suffering to civilians, may amount to war crimes,” said Tadamichi Yamamoto, the secretary general’s deputy special representative for Afghanistan.
The explosion, which was followed by gunfire, rattled windows in much of the city. Mr. Sediqqi described the area destroyed as “vast.” The Taliban’s urban attacks follow a similar pattern: After a vehicle-borne explosion creates chaos, militants with weapons and suicide vests storm their target and engage the police or special forces.
Police officials said that militants had entered the office compound after the explosion and that Afghan security units had arrived in response. But Gen. Abdul Rahman Rahimi, Kabul’s police chief, said that just one militant had entered the compound, and that he had been gunned down in less than half an hour. Sediq Sediqqi, a spokesman for the Afghan Interior Ministry, said that on Tuesday a truck full of “probably hundreds of kilograms of explosives” had been detonated in a parking lot behind the compound of the Directorate of Security for Dignitaries. Mr. Sediqqi described the area destroyed as “vast.” (The explosion was so strong that it rattled windows across the city, including those at the presidential palace.)
A spokesman for the Taliban, Zabihullah Mujahid, issued a statement claiming responsibility for the attack. The statement said that “a truck full of explosives” had been detonated before fighters entered the compound. Police officials said that a number of militants then entered the compound, engaging the guards and the police special forces who arrived to clear the area. But Gen. Abdul Rahman Rahimi, Kabul’s police chief, said that just one militant had entered the compound, and that he had been gunned down in less than half an hour.
Even as the Taliban stretch Afghan forces throughout the country, with fighting across multiple provinces, complex urban attacks remain crucial to their insurgency. Mr. Sediqqi said that 30 people, mostly civilians, were killed in the explosion, while health officials reported that 327 wounded had arrived at city hospitals. The number of casualties was expected to rise, Mr. Sediqqi said.
The pattern is often the same. After a vehicle-borne explosion creates chaos, militants equipped with weapons and suicide vests storm their targeted building and fight until the police engage them. A spokesman for the Taliban, Zabihullah Mujahid, issued a statement claiming responsibility for the attack.
The urban attacks bring the insurgents what even major battlefield gains in remote areas of the country cannot: headlines, and a disruption of daily life that increases pressure on the government. President Ashraf Ghani, who visited the wounded in hospitals on Tuesday, accused the Taliban of working for the enemies of his country.
President Ashraf Ghani condemned Tuesday’s violence in “the strongest terms,” and the chief executive of the Afghan government, Abdullah Abdullah, visited the site of the attack, saying it showed “the depth of barbarity and terror of Afghanistan’s enemies.” “Afghanistan remembers the day you had whips in your hands, killing people,” he said. “We will avenge every drop of the Afghan blood that is shed.”
He said the country’s defense and security forces had remained on alert because the Taliban had clearly rejected “our calls for peace.” Eyewitnesses described the mayhem after the attack, which took place during the early morning rush. One of the wounded, Sadiqullah, 25, said more than a dozen vehicles near him had been badly damaged, and their drivers and passengers injured or killed.
The United Nations Mission in Afghanistan condemned the attack in strong language on Tuesday. “I saw people lying on the road hopelessly — some screaming, others silently giving out their last breath and some already dead,” he said.
“This attack shows the devastation caused by the use of explosive devices in urban areas and once more demonstrates complete disregard for the lives of Afghan civilians,” said Tadamichi Yamamoto, the secretary general’s deputy special representative for Afghanistan. Mr. Sadiqullah, who runs a tea shop and who like many Afghans goes by one name, said the blast was “so strong that I felt it struck me or my shop personally.”
“The use of high explosives in civilian populated areas, in circumstances almost certain to cause immense suffering to civilians, may amount to war crimes.”
Eyewitnesses described the mayhem after the attack. One of the wounded, Sadiqullah, 25, said more than a dozen vehicles near him had been badly damaged, and their drivers and passengers injured or killed.
“I saw people lying on the road hopelessly — some screaming, others silently giving out their last breath and some already dead.”
Mr. Sadiqullah, who runs a tea shop and, like many Afghans, goes by one name, said the blast was “so strong that I felt it struck me or my shop personally.”
Muhammad Amir, 13, said the explosion scattered all the items in the auto repair shop where he works. “My uncle got a head wound, and my brother is still missing,” he said. “I hope he has survived the attack, like I did.”Muhammad Amir, 13, said the explosion scattered all the items in the auto repair shop where he works. “My uncle got a head wound, and my brother is still missing,” he said. “I hope he has survived the attack, like I did.”
On a visit to the site of the attack, Abdullah Abdullah, the chief executive of the Afghan government, said it showed “the depth of barbarity and terror of Afghanistan’s enemies.” He said the country’s defense and security forces had remained on alert because the Taliban had clearly rejected “our calls for peace.”
For much of the winter, the struggling coalition government had tried to get the Taliban to participate in peace talks, in the hopes of avoiding another bloody year. At the heart of the effort was reaching out to the government and powerful military of Pakistan, elements of which are believed to be aiding the Taliban and providing its leadership with sanctuaries on Pakistani soil.
The outreach, which also involved the United States and China, created early optimism. A date for face-to-face talks was set for early March, with Pakistan promising to deliver Taliban leaders to the table.
But the Taliban rejected the talks, instead starting the spring offensive and intensifying attacks across the country. It became clear that the new leader of the insurgent movement, Mullah Akhtar Muhammad Mansour, had no interest in discussions. He had used the winter months to consolidate his ranks, through a mix of brutal crackdowns on dissent and doling out new posts to discontented members of the group.
To protest Tuesday’s attack, Mr. Abdullah’s office said he would postpone a trip to Pakistan, believing that the attack was planned on its soil.