Five killed in bomb attack in Afghanistan
Afghan authorities say five people have been killed and dozens of others injured in a bomb explosion outside the Justice Ministry building in the capital, Kabul.
The explosion occurred when an assailant detonated his explosives-laden car at the parking lot of the Justice Ministry in Police District 2 (PD2) of central Kabul at around 4:00 p.m. local time (1130 GMT) on Tuesday.
Initial reports suggest the bombing happened as ministry staffers were leaving the building.
“Four men and one woman were killed. The body of one of the victims was torn into pieces and we cannot verify if he was the attacker,” Deputy Interior Minister Mohammad Ayub Salangi said.
The Taliban militant group claimed responsibility for the Tuesday bombing.
The Afghan Defense Ministry said in a statement on Tuesday that 56 militants were killed and 46 were injured during a series of operations carried out nationwide.
The statement added that there were seven fatalities on the side of the Afghan forces.
Afghan soldiers also destroyed a number of militant hideouts and defused 27 improvised explosive devices during the operations.
Earlier in the day, General Faqir Mohammad Jawzjani, the police chief in Afghanistan’s northern province of Jawzjan, said 30 militants had been killed and 50 others wounded during heavy clashes between security forces and terrorists in the Aqcha district of the province, located approximately 50 kilometers (31 miles east of the provincial capital of Sheberghan.
Jawzjani added that the skirmishes broke out during the early hours of Monday after nearly 1,000 militants launched an attack against Aqcha in the hope of seizing control of the district.
Afghanistan faces a security challenge years after the United States and its allies invaded the country in 2001 as part of Washington’s so-called war on terror. The offensive removed Taliban from power, but many areas in the country are still witnessing violence.
At least 13,500 foreign forces remain in Afghanistan despite the end of the US-led combat mission, which came on December 31, 2014. The forces, mainly from the US, are there for what Washington calls a support mission. NATO says the forces will focus mainly on counter-terrorism operations and training Afghan soldiers and policemen.
MP/HSN/HJL
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