Afghanistan: Taliban suicide bomb attack near Kabul airport

At least five people were killed Monday when a Taliban suicide auto bomber struck near the entrance of Kabul’s worldwide airport, the latest in a wave of lethal bombings in the Afghan capital.

The wave of violence appeared triggered by a power struggle within the Taliban after the insurgents last week confirmed the 2013 death of their founder, Mullah Mohammed Omar, and named a new leader who immediately vowed to continue the group’s campaign to bring sharia law to Afghanistan. The revelation last month that longtime Taliban leader Mullah Mohammed Omar had died in Pakistan in 2013 had already thrown the talks into turmoil, and any further blow is likely to increase pressure on the White House to back off that timetable.

5 civilians have been killed and 17 individuals wounded, together with a lady and a toddler, stated Wahidullah Mayar, a spokesman for the general public well being ministry.

The Kabul provincial police chief, Abdul Rahman Rahimi, told the reporter that a vehicle packed with explosives blew up at the busy intersection.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack, which comes after a barrage of bombings in Kabul killed at least 51 people on Friday, the deadliest day for the capital in years.

The suggested new leader of the organization, Mullah Mohammad Akhtar, delivered a message through these attacks that there is no way the Taliban will slow down.

He was speaking just hours after Afghan President Ashraf Ghani directly blamed Pakistan for being behind the weekend and Monday’s suicide bombings in Kabul.

President Ashraf Ghani was due to hold a televised press conference later Monday.

The battle between the Western-backed authorities and the Taliban has intensified because the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation fight mission ended final yr, however Afghan safety forces and civilians have borne the brunt of the violence.

Last Friday, a massive truck bomb in a residential area of Kabul killed at least 15 people and wounded 248.

“Since I took office, Afghans have been waiting for Pakistan to show their tangible commitment” to peace, Ghani said.

In response to the recent violence, anti-Pakistan sentiment has been rising in Afghanistan.

The US-led military intervention in 2001, toppled the Taliban hard-line Islamist regime, and that rule is what they are seeking to re-establish.

Ghani also said he had once again asked Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to take serious action against the growing activities of terrorist groups in Pakistan, which directly target security and stability in neighboring Afghanistan.