At least five people were killed and dozens injured in a suicide attack, claimed by the Islamic State (IS) group, on Wednesday January 11, at the entrance to the Afghan Foreign Ministry in Kabul. “The Islamic Emirate condemns such an attack. The perpetrators of this act will be found and punished.”Kabul police spokesman Khalid Zadran told reporters.
The Taliban say it has improved security in the country since returning to power in August 2021, but numerous bomb attacks have been carried out in recent months, generally claimed by ISIS, the local branch of the Islamic State group.
The IS propaganda organ, Amaq, indicated in the evening on Telegram that one of the members of the organization was “managed to pass the checkpoints” Taliban “before detonating his explosive belt in the midst of employees and guards as they exited through the main entrance” of the ministry, causing several deaths, “including diplomats”.
A driver from Agence France-Presse (AFP) who accompanied a team of journalists from the agency carrying out an interview inside the Ministry of Information, located just opposite the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, attended the ‘blast. “I saw around 20 to 25 casualties. I don’t know how many of them were dead or injured.”testified this driver Jamshed Karimi. “I was waiting in the car when I saw a man with a Kalashnikov over his shoulder and carrying a bag. He passed by my car and after a few seconds there was a loud bang. I saw this man blow himself up”he added.
The rear window of the vehicle he was in was shattered by the blast, as well as the windows of the Ministry of Information.
“A suicide bomber tried to enter the ministry, but he did not achieve his goal and he was discovered by the security forces and blew himself up”tweeted Deputy Director General for Public and Strategic Affairs Ahmadullah Muttaqi.
Chinese diplomats visiting the ministry that day
Images of the place after the attack, authenticated by AFP, show several bodies lying on the road which borders the ministry. You can also hear injured people calling for help and see passers-by coming to their aid.
The Italian NGO Emergency, which operates a hospital in Kabul, said it had received more than 40 injured. “The number of victims continues to increase as the situation evolves”the humanitarian organization said in a statement. “We even installed beds in the kitchens and the canteen”continued the director of Emergency for Afghanistan Stefano Sozza.
“There was supposed to be a Chinese delegation at the Foreign Ministry today, but we don’t know if they were present at the time of the explosion”, Deputy Minister for Information and Culture Muhajer Farahi told AFP. However, according to Ahmadullah Muttaqi, no foreigners were present at the ministry when it was attacked.
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On December 12, an attack claimed by IS was perpetrated by armed men, some of whom had been killed, against a hotel in the Afghan capital housing Chinese businessmen. Five Chinese citizens were injured in the attack. Some customers had jumped out of the windows of the establishment to escape the fire which had broken out.
Beijing has not officially recognized the Taliban government, but China, which shares a 76 km border with Afghanistan, is one of the few countries to have maintained a diplomatic presence there. She has long feared that Afghanistan will become a base for the Uighur Muslim minority coming from the very sensitive Chinese border region of Xinjiang.
Repeated attacks on foreigners
The Taliban have promised that Afghanistan will not be used as a base by Uighur militants. In exchange, Beijing offered them economic support and investments for the reconstruction of their country.
The Taliban are also counting on China to turn one of the world’s largest copper deposits into a mining factory. An exploitation that would be invaluable for redressing Afghanistan, short of money and hit by international economic sanctions.
The Chinese are not the only foreigners targeted by IS in recent months, as the Taliban attempt to attract investment from neighboring countries. On December 2, the jihadist organization claimed responsibility for an attack on the Pakistani embassy in Kabul, indicating that it had targeted the head of mission.
Also in September, two Russian embassy staff were killed in a suicide bombing outside their mission, another attack claimed by IS.
Hundreds of people, including members of minority communities in Afghanistan, have been killed or injured in other attacks since the Taliban regained power.
Analysts consider that the jihadists of the IS, a Sunni group like the Taliban, but with which the latter maintain a deep enmity and ideological differences, remain the main threat weighing on the Kabul regime.