US soldier killed as wave of attacks hit Kabul

“Anything is possible”.

A spokesman for President Barack Obama said the US condemned the attack “in the strongest terms”.

The death toll in the three attacks topped 65, making it the single bloodiest day for the Afghan capital in recent years, local and foreign officials told The Wall Street Journal. Safety forces say they’ve thwarted numerous makes an attempt to convey giant caches of explosives into the capital. The nationality of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation soldier was not released.

The Taliban said they were also behind the academy attack in which a person dressed in police uniform mingled with cadets returning from their weekend break. His spokesman, Mr. Hashimi, called it a “cowardly terrorist attack against civilians aimed at diverting attention from the tensions brewing between the leadership of the Taliban“.

There are still about 10,000 U.S. troops in Afghanistan as part of two missions, one focused on training and assisting Afghan forces, the other on carrying out counterterrorism operations.

On Saturday, unidentified gunmen clashed with Afghan security forces close to Kabul worldwide airport in the Qasaba area.

Civilians also have suffered. The United Nations’ human rights office said insurgents were responsible for 70 percent of civilian casualties, with more than half that number caused by suicide bombings.

Among those injured were 47 women and 30 children, Hashemi said.

Afghan officials were quick to congratulate themselves, noting that in none of the three attacks, scattered widely around the capital, did the insurgents manage to breach their targets’ inner defenses.

A wave of assaults on Afghan military, police and D.J. special forces in Kabul on Friday killed at the least 50 individuals and wounded a whole lot, dimming hopes that the Taliban is perhaps weakened by a management wrestle after their longtime chief’s dying.

The appointment of Mullah Omar’s replacement, Mullah Akhtar Mansoor, has sparked dissent within the Taliban.

The U.S.-led coalition formally ended its combat mission at the end of last year, leaving Afghan troops nearly on their own against a resilient Taliban insurgency. After a series of informal talks, a first formal, face-to-face round of negotiations was held in Pakistan on July 7.

It still remains unclear whether the attacks indicate Taliban unity or disunity.

Ruttig said Mansour could be sending a message of resolve, with the latest Kabul attacks, to Taliban rank and file and to the Afghan government.

Later Saturday, hundreds gathered at a candlelight vigil in memory of those who died.

At the same time, internal disputes broke out among the Afghan Taliban about who would take over Mullah Omar’s leadership. They burned Pakistani currency with the candles lit to remember the dead.