Kabul bombing kills seven, hurts many

The blast came was the latest in a series of suicide attacks in Kabul that have coincided with efforts to revive peace process with Taliban insurgents.

The Wednesday suicide attack on a mini bus in Kabul ferrying journalists affiliated with Tolo TV, Afghanistan’s 24-hour news channel, was an atrocity created to undermine the country’s still-fragile media freedom, it said.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the violence, saying it was meant to punish Tolo TV for broadcasting anti-Afghan and anti-Taliban programs.

The Afghan Journalists’ Federation called on the government to investigate the level of security provided for personnel at the threatened television stations, and on the owners to provide greater protection for the staff.

The suicide bomber drove an explosives-laden auto into the minibus as it was passing near the Russia Embassy in Kabul.

Tolo TV network, one of the Afghan broadcasters apparently targeted, put the death toll at seven civilians.

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid, in a statement sent to reporters shortly after the bombing, also accused Tolo of being a “spy agency” and warned others against indulging in such activities.

Envoys from Afghanistan, Pakistan, China and the United States met in Kabul this week to explore ways to find a negotiated end to 15 years of war, and urged the Taliban to join peace talks. There have been no reports of wounded Afghan or foreign officials.

The deadly assault spotlights the growing dangers faced by media workers in Afghanistan, as the security situation worsens amid a growing wave of militant attacks.

Najafizada said at the time that the Taliban had previously tried to disassociate itself from attacks on journalists.

Defense Secretary Ashton B. Carter visited Afghanistan’s eastern Nangahar province in December and discussed the growing Islamic State presence there with Army Gen. John F. Campbell, the commander of US and North Atlantic Treaty Organisation forces in Afghanistan. In a December 2014 statement, the Taliban explicitly threatened to attack any journalists seen as supporting “Western values”.

The Indian and Pakistani missions have also recently been targeted in other parts of the country.