Taliban claims deadly bomb, gun attack that rocked Afghanistan’s capital Kabul
- At least eight people were killed in the attack that targeted the Afghan defence minister and lawmakers
- Hundreds of families have fled as the Afghan military launched a counter-attack against the insurgents in the southern city of Lashkar Gah
The bomb-and-gun attack on minister Bismillah Mohammadi on Tuesday was one of the biggest in Kabul for months, bringing violence to the capital after intense fighting in the south and west of the country.
The Afghan and US militaries have carried out air strikes against the insurgents to push them back, and the Taliban said the Kabul attack was a response to that.
“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 in recent years after starting talks with the United States on troop withdrawal.
