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That morning, several mortar rounds hit residential areas in the Afghan capital Kabul. At least eight people were killed. It is not yet clear who is behind the attacks.
According to authorities, at least eight people died in missile attacks against the Afghan capital Kabul. More than 30 people were injured, a spokesman for the interior ministry said.
According to this, about 20 bullets hit mainly residential areas in the center and north of the city. According to eyewitnesses, several messages triggered the alarm in the heavily protected Green Zone in the heart of Kabul. State broadcaster RTA has published photos of a burned-out pickup truck rumored to have fired grenades.
“I was at breakfast when the rockets hit”
“I was having breakfast when the rockets hit. A bakery vehicle was hit and at least three people were injured, and we took them to the hospital,” said Abdul Qadir, a local resident.
The main target of the attack was apparently Sedarat Square, where the residence of Vice President Amrullah Saleh is located. He had survived a car bomb attack in early September, only slightly injured.
The Taliban deny involvement
So far no one has confessed to the attacks. The Islamist Taliban denied being responsible for the attack. A similar attack had already occurred in August. Several people were injured and killed when more than a dozen rockets hit Kabul. At that time the terrorist militia “Islamic State” (IS) claimed responsibility for the attack for itself.
Afghanistan hasn’t been calm for years. Despite an agreement with the United States on an early withdrawal of US soldiers and peace negotiations with the Afghan government, the radical Islamic Taliban have recently expanded their attacks. IS also regularly carries out attacks.
Pompeo wants to speak with Taliban representatives in Qatar
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced ahead of the explosions in Kabul that he would speak to Taliban representatives visiting Qatar. The US signed an agreement with the Taliban at the end of February which provides for a gradual withdrawal of NATO troops from Afghanistan.
In return, the Taliban have engaged, among other things, in peace talks with the Afghan government. Both sides have been conducting peace negotiations in Abu Dhabi since September. Conversations are difficult.
Current US President Donald Trump recently announced that he will speed up the withdrawal of troops. By mid-January, only 2,500 US troops are expected to be in the country. It was Trump’s election promise to end the United States’ “endless wars”. Experts warn of a hasty withdrawal from the country that could play into the hands of the Taliban.
The minister warns of a hasty withdrawal
The Afghan State Minister for Human Rights, Sima Samar, also warned against a hasty withdrawal of foreign troops from his country. The withdrawal of the United States and other NATO troops should be done carefully, Samar said in a videoconference from the Villigst Evangelical Academy in Schwerte, North Rhine-Westphalia.
During the intra-Afghan peace negotiations, the Afghan security forces should be supported, “otherwise a vacuum will be created,” Samar stressed.
“Very aggressive conflict”
“We still have a very aggressive conflict, we don’t have a lasting peace yet,” said the 63-year-old doctor and politician, who has long been the head of her country’s independent human rights organization and who received the alternative Nobel Prize in 2012.
Samar called the ceasefire, the fight against corruption and the end of impunity as central points of a peace agreement with the Taliban. If there is no good government, the Taliban favor it: “We need the rule of law instead of the state of arms.”
With information currently provided by Bernd Musch-Borowska, ARD Studio New Delhi. in Hamburg
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