Kabul suffers more deadly attacks

Defence Minister Khawaja Asif said Friday (August 7) that deceased Taliban chief Mullah Omar was neither killed nor buried in Pakistan.

Ghani said he was sending a delegation of Afghan officials to Pakistan this week, the first high-level meeting between the countries since the Afghan-Taliban talks were called off.

Despite Mansour’s appointment, the Pakistani government has said peace talks which were due for tomorrow have been suspended at the Taliban’s request.

“Since I took office, Afghans have been waiting for Pakistan to show their tangible commitment” to defeating terrorist groups, Ghani said while speaking from his palace hours after the terrorist attack in Kabul.

“Having been the biggest victim of terrorism itself…”

“Every one of us knows the culprits behind these inhuman acts have safe heavens in Pakistan and they feel pride to claim responsibility for deadly attacks in Afghanistan“.

Five people were killed and 16 injured in a Taliban attack Monday at a checkpoint near the entrance to Kabul’s global airport, according to news reports.

The casualties, which included a woman and a child, were confirmed by the interior ministry.

This followed a wave of attacks in the capital Friday in which at least 56 people were killed, including a U.S. Army Special Forces soldier, Master Sgt.

Taliban fighters are stepping up their summer offensive amid a bitter leadership dispute following the announcement of the death of longtime leader Mullah Omar.

Abdullah Abdullah, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Afghanistan government on Tuesday blamed Pakistan of nurturing and financing extremism in Afghanistan, Afghan media reported.

The comments threaten to spoil relations that appeared to improve under Ghani compared with his predecessor Hamid Karzai, who regularly accused Pakistan of cross-border terrorism. Ghani had telephoned Nawaz to discuss possible resumption of peace talks between Kabul and the Taliban.

The insurgents, however, have sought to dismiss talk of any rift after the Afghan government and the Taliban revealed last week that Mullah Omar had been dead for more than two years.

The handover of the Taliban leadership to the “moderate” Mullah Akhtar Mansour is being seen by some as a win for Pakistan, the insurgents’ historic backers, but could deepen splits within the movement.

Some top leaders of the Islamist insurgency, including Omar s son and brother, have refused to pledge allegiance to Mansour, saying the process to select him was rushed and even biased.

Pakistan hosted the first official round of Kabul-Taliban negotiations last month.

“Pakistan condemns these deadly attacks in Afghanistan in the strongest terms”, the ministry said, adding that Pakistan will continue to support and facilitate an “Afghan-led and Afghan-owned peace and reconciliation process” with the Taliban.