DThe Taliban are committed to attacking Afghan Defense Minister Bismillah Mohammadi in the capital Kabul. A Taliban spokesperson said on Wednesday that the attack on the minister marked the beginning of “retaliatory measures” against the government, which “ordered attacks and explosions in various parts of the country.”
However, the number of deaths and injuries has been revised upwards. A spokesperson for the Ministry of the Interior said on Wednesday that at least 13 people were killed and about 20 others were injured. Among the death toll, five assailants were killed by SWAT troops.
On Tuesday night, the attackers detonated a car bomb near the hotel of Bismillah Khan Mohammadi, the current Minister of Defense in the city center. According to the Minister of the Interior, several attackers then broke into several apartment buildings and opened fire on security forces. There is no information about whose house it is.
A spokesperson for the Interior Ministry said the attack ended about five hours later on Wednesday night. Soon after the start, approximately 70 to 80 civilians were rescued. These people were previously captured by the attackers or trapped in the attacked area.
Targeted killings almost every day
In a video released after the attack, Minister Mohammedi said that he and his family are fine. However, three of his bodyguards were injured. In Kabul, the number of major car bomb attacks and suicide bombings has declined since the beginning of 2020. The most recent was in May. Three consecutive explosions occurred in the western part of the city, killing at least 85 people, most of them female students. Almost every day, the city has targeted killings of government employees, clergy and security forces.
