Three killed, 15 injured in suicide attack in Kabul

Kabul, April 29 (IANS) A suicide attack here left at least three people dead and 15 wounded on Wednesday, the interior ministry reported.

The attack occurred around 8 a.m. (local time) in the Reshkhor area of Chahar-Asiab district, where the Defense Ministry’s Special Operation Corps is headquartered, Efe news reported.

“The suicide bomber detonated his explosives attached to his body among the civilians, as a result of which three persons were martyred and 15 of our civilian countrymen were injured,” ministry spokesperson Tariq Arian said in a statement.

Without explicitly blaming any group, Arian underlined that the attack was “carried out by the enemies of the people of Afghanistan”, a term usually used by government officials to refer to the Taliban and the local branch of the Islamic State.

The spokesperson also criticized the people behind the attack during Ramadan, the Islamic holy month of fasting.

“These enemies of the people are not bound to any Islamic and human values and they carried out the attack in a while that we are in the holy month of Ramadan,” Arian said.

Insurgent attacks had reduced considerably in urban areas since the Taliban signed a peace agreement with the United States in the Qatari capital of Doha on Feb.29.

Although clashes between the Afghan security forces and the Taliban fighters continued in rural areas, attacks in cities had come down to almost nil.

However, there were at least two prior suicide attacks in Kabul since the peace deal, and the local branch of the Islamic State group claimed both of them.

Meanwhile, the US-Taliban peace deal included an agreement for the release of some 5,000 Taliban prisoners in exchange for 1,000 Afghan security forces.

The prisoner exchange deal was supposed to serve as a precursor to the commencement of intra-Afghan talks to usher in peace in the country after nearly 20 years.

However, the process was affected by a disagreement between the insurgents and the government, leading to the Taliban negotiating team pulling out of the prisoner exchange talks earlier this month.

Although both sides have unilaterally released some prisoners in an attempt to adhere to the Doha agreement, violence has continued unabated in the country, resulting in civilian casualties.

While the insurgents have completely stopped attacking foreign troops after signing the deal with the US, they have said they will only stop their attacks on Afghan troops after negotiating a separate ceasefire with the Afghan government during intra-Afghan talks.

–IANS

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