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Suicide Bombing in Kabul Kills at Least 14, Officials Say Bombing in Kabul Kills Security Contractors, Officials Say
(about 9 hours later)
KABUL, Afghanistan — More than a dozen people believed to have been foreign contractors were killed in a suicide bombing in Kabul, the Afghan capital, on Monday, according to police and government officials. KABUL, Afghanistan — A Taliban suicide bomber attacked a minibus carrying Nepalese security contractors to work at the Canadian Embassy early Monday, killing 14 in one of the deadliest attack on foreign workers in the Afghan capital, the police and government officials said.
The Taliban quickly claimed responsibility for the attack. The Taliban quickly claimed responsibility for the bombing, along with another explosion in the city on Monday morning that wounded a Kabul provincial council member. The twin explosions shattered a relative calm in Kabul during the holy month of Ramadan, which began in early June, and underscored the Taliban’s rejection of a request by the United Nations for a cease-fire that would last the month.
The dead were all Nepalese who were riding in a minibus to work when the bomber attacked, said police officials in the eastern part of Kabul, where the attack happened. Sediq Sediqqi, the spokesman for the Ministry of Interior, put the death toll at 14, with eight more people wounded, some of whom might also have been civilians. Thousands of Nepalese security contractors work at foreign military or diplomatic compounds in Afghanistan, many drawn to work here by better wages and more jobs than are available for them back home. Despite tight security measures at the foreign missions where they work, or surrounding their barracks, the contractors often travel to work in unguarded buses that are seen as especially vulnerable to insurgent attacks.
It was one of the deadliest attacks against foreign workers to have been carried out in the capital. Nepalese often work as security guards at embassies and other foreign installations around Kabul, and they are typically housed in barracks and bused to their jobs. The minibus carrying the Nepalese contractors was traveling through the eastern part of Kabul when it was attacked by a bomber wearing an explosive belt and traveling on foot, security officials said. Sediq Sediqqi, the spokesman for the Ministry of Interior, put the death toll at 14, with eight more people wounded, some of whom might also have been civilians.
The attacker was apparently on foot, wearing a vest of explosives, according to initial police reports, although officials stressed that the episode was still under investigation.
In a separate Taliban attack on Monday, a member of Kabul’s provincial council was wounded along with two other people when an explosive device detonated about 40 paces from the council member’s home, the authorities said.
The bombings were the first major attacks in the capital during the holy month of Ramadan. Officials at the United Nations have called for a cease-fire during Ramadan, an appeal that Taliban insurgents have rejected.
Zabihullah Mujahid, a Taliban spokesman, made the claims of responsibility on Twitter and gave a higher death toll for the bus bombing, saying that 20 foreign guards had been killed.Zabihullah Mujahid, a Taliban spokesman, made the claims of responsibility on Twitter and gave a higher death toll for the bus bombing, saying that 20 foreign guards had been killed.
Later on Monday, a branch of the Islamic State also claimed responsibility for the bombing, according to the SITE Institute, which tracks jihadist groups. It was impossible to reconcile the competing claims. The Islamic State statement mistakenly asserted that the Nepalese contractors worked at the American Embassy rather than the Canadian Embassy.
In the second bombing in Kabul, Attaullah Faizani, a member of Kabul’s provincial council, was wounded along with two other people when an explosive device detonated about 40 yards from the council member’s home, according to Fraidoon Obaidy, a senior police official in Kabul.
In a separate bombing, 10 people, including some children, were killed in the northeastern province of Badakhshan when an explosive-laden motorcycle detonated in a traffic roundabout, local officials said. The Taliban officially denied that they were behind that bombing, as they have with some other attacks in which most of the victims were civilians. But later, Taliban commanders in the province told a reporter that the group was, in fact, responsible the bombing.
The surge of violence on Monday highlighted the challenges facing the government as a resurgent Taliban that has expanded its territory over the last year. But as the threats have escalated, the post of defense minister has been left vacant for months, fueling a perception that the Afghan government had yielded its authority over the war effort to American commanders.
On Monday, the Afghan parliament approved a nominee, Gen. Abdullah Khan Habibi, as defense minister, after numerous previous attempts to fill the post had failed since the government was first installed in September 2014. General Habibi, 64, had served in the armed forces or defense ministry under several previous Afghan administrations – including under Taliban rule, military officials said.