KABUL: The Taliban warned of more attacks targeting Afghan government leaders, a day after the defence minister escaped an assassination attempt and as the insurgents fought to take control of a string of besieged cities across the country.
A bomb-and-gun attack on Defence Minister Bismillah Mohammadi on Tuesday night brought the war to the capital for the first time in months. The fighting has raged in the countryside since May when foreign forces began the last stage of a withdrawal due to end later this month.
The Afghan and US militaries have stepped up airstrikes against the insurgents, and the Taliban said the Kabul raid was their response. “The attack is the beginning of the retaliatory operations against the circles and leaders of the Kabul administration who are ordering attacks and the bombing of different parts of the country,” Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said in a statement on social media.
It represents a major escalation by the Taliban, who have largely refrained from large-scale attacks in the capital since starting talks with the US on their troop withdrawal.
A first bomb exploded in the centre of Kabul, sending a thick plume of smoke into the sky. Less than two hours later, there was another loud blast followed by smaller explosions and rapid gunfire, all near the high-security Green Zone that houses several embassies, including the US mission.
The minister was safe and Afghan forces repelled the attackers, but interior ministry spokesman Mirwais Stanikzai said eight people were killed and many more wounded.
After the first blast, thousands of people in several cities heeded a social media campaign to chant “Allahu akbar” (God is greatest) to show support for the government. There was little respite in Kabul early Wednesday, with police saying another blast injured three people.
The Taliban threat came after the Afghan military launched a counterattack in the southern city of Lashkar Gah, where insurgents have infiltrated several parts of the city in numbers.
The army told the city’s 200,000 people to evacuate on Tuesday as they prepared their offensive. The insurgents have taken control of vast swathes of the countryside and key border towns.
They are now targeting cities, with fierce fighting for a week around Herat, near the western border with Iran, as well as Lashkar Gah and Kandahar in the south. The loss of Lashkar Gah, the capital of southern Helmand province, would be a massive strategic and psychological blow for the government.
The United Nations said it had received reports of mounting civilian deaths and damage to critical infrastructure in Helmand and Kandahar.
