In one of the worst bombings Kabul has faced in recent years, reports are coming out stating over 90 people are dead, with 400 others wounded after a truck bomb exploded early Wednesday morning. The truck bomb, believed to be driven by a suicide bomber, exploded near the presidential palace and foreign embassies. There were 11 American citizens injured in the blast. Britain has confirmed one of its BBC broadcasters was killed, with four reporters wounded. The majority of the dead and wounded are civilians, assumedly going to work in the morning.
Afghani President Ashraf Ghani has called the attack “a crime against humanity.” The windows to his palace were shattered in the blast, showing just how close to the palace the bomber managed to get. President Trump called Ghani to offer his condolences.
Who did it
Neither the Taliban nor the Islamic State have claimed responsibility for the attack. Both groups have conducted major bombings in Kabul before, so this attack would be nothing new from them. The Taliban released a statement denying their involvement and condemning attacks on civilians.
The attack comes during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan. President Ghani said in a statement, “the terrorists, even in the holy month of Ramadan, the month of goodness, blessing, and prayer, are not stopping the killing of our innocent people.” The added factor of Ramadan caused tensions to run even higher in Kabul after the terror attack.
During the month of Ramadan, Muslims do not eat or drink at all from sunrise to sunset. Emergency workers and security forces were attending to the damage done after the bomb while fasting. Wives, husbands, mothers, fathers and children were frantically going hospital to hospital, searching for their missing loved ones while fasting.
The Taliban may have denied involvement, but the Afghan intelligence agency has blamed the Haqqani wing of the organization. The Haqqani wing is known for its large-scale attacks. Except for this precedence, there is little evidence that the Haqqanis were responsible. The area around the attack site was cordoned off and emergency workers were closely screened in fear of a follow-up attack.
What was the intended target
The intended target of the attack is currently unknown. Najib Danish, deputy spokesman for the Interior Ministry, said, “We don’t know at this moment what was the target of the attack, but most of the causalities are civilians.” It is believed that the bomber did not make it to his intended target as security camera footage shows the truck stopped by police officers who guarded the entrance to the street which holds several embassies and compounds for coalition forces. The deputy Interior Minister, General Murad Ali Murad, confirmed that he believed that the attacker failed to get to his intended target.
The United States has been militarily involved in afghanistan for 15 years, a disconcerting fact in light of Kabul’s vulnerability to terrorist attacks.
The United States currently has over 8,000 troops stationed in Afghanistan, largely for the purpose of combating that Taliban. Despite the help of U.S. troops, the situation with the Taliban has not improved, with the group gaining control of several important regions in Afghanistan. The U.S. is currently debating whether or not to send more troops into the area in an attempt to try to regain some stability.
