Afghan security forces foil massive terror attack on Kabul

Afghan security officials say they have defused a massive truck bomb in the capital city of Kabul, the biggest of its kind discovered in the war-torn country.

The National Directorate of Security (NDS) on Friday said it found nearly eight tons of explosives, wired and ready for detonation, hidden in cement bags in a truck.

“This truck bomb could have destroyed an area around 1.5 km (in radius). Now can you imagine that what kind of catastrophe this would be?” NDS spokesman Shafiqullah Tahiri told a news conference.

Five suspected bombers were killed and two others arrested during a pre-dawn raid by security forces on Wednesday.

The NDS said the attack was planned by the Haqqani network and the Taliban leadership.

Security forces also arrested four Taliban militants who had planned to attack Shindand military airport in the western Herat Province on Friday.

They also seized four missiles aimed at the airfield.

Violence in Afghanistan has been on the rise in recent years, despite the prolonged presence of foreign forces in the war-torn country since the US-led invasion of the country in 2001.

The rising number of civilian casualties has promoted President Hamid Karzai to order US special forces to leave the eastern province of Wardak.

Karzai’s last week remarks accusing the United States of colluding with the Taliban and the US denial of the comments marks the strain in Kabul-Washington relations.