Terror bombing in Kabul kills 1, wounds 15

A bomber in the Afghan capital of Kabul has detonated his explosives near a bus carrying staff members of Afghanistan’s Attorney General’s Office, killing one and injuring 15 others, local authorities and witnesses say.

Kabul’s Deputy Police Chief Gul Agha Rouhani confirmed that the Monday terror attack had “taken place in the Police District 6” and that it targeted the official vehicle.

Moreover, the Afghan Interior Ministry “strongly condemned” the attack, confirming that one civilian was killed and 15 others were wounded.

People sit in front of their homes as Afghan security personnel investigate at the site of a bomb attack on a bus transporting employees of the attorney general’s office in Kabul on May 4, 2015. © AFP
“These attacks… demonstrate [an] extreme level of atrocity by terrorists against innocent and defenseless civilians,” said a ministry statement.

Taliban insurgents immediately claimed responsibility for the terror bombing, boasting that about 40 of the “ruthless staff of the attorney general office” were killed and injured.

According to a witness cited in press reports, the bomber rammed his vehicle into the bus in the southwestern sector of the capital.

An Afghan security official inspects a bullet-riddled windscreen at the scene of a bomb attack on a bus transporting employees of the attorney general’s office in Kabul on May 4, 2015. © AFP
The development came as fighting between Afghan forces and Taliban militants has intensified since the insurgents launched their so-called annual spring offensive against Afghan forces and foreign embassies on April 24.

However, Afghan Interior Minister Noorul Haq Ulumi and the deputy to Defense Ministry spokesman, Brigadier General Dawlat Waziri, have dismissed the Taliban spring offensive, saying the country’s security forces are capable of foiling militant attacks.

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 increasing violence.