Post assassination attempt on top Afghanistan minister, Taliban warns of more targeted attacks
Releasing a statement on social media, the Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said the attack is just the beginning of the retaliatory operations against the leaders of Kabul administration.
FollowThe Taliban on Wednesday warned of more attacks targeting Afghan government leaders. This warning came a day after the defence minister of Afghanistan escaped an assassination attempt.
Releasing a statement on social media, the Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said the attack is just the beginning of the retaliatory operations against the leaders of Kabul administration.
On Tuesday night, a bomb-and-gun attack on Defence Minister Bismillah Mohammadi brought the war to the capital for the first time in months.
The Afghan and US militaries have stepped up airstrikes against the insurgents, and the Taliban said Wednesday the Kabul raid was their response.
It represents a significant escalation by the Taliban, who have largely refrained from large-scale attacks in the capital since starting talks with the US on their troop withdrawal.
According to media reports, the first bomb exploded in the Centre of Kabul, and in less than two hours later, there was another blast followed by smaller explosions and rapid gunfire, near high-security Green Zone that houses several embassies, including the US mission.
However, the minister was safe and Afghan forces repelled the attackers.
Human Rights Watch, meanwhile, accused the Taliban of 'summarily' executing captured soldiers, police and civilians accused of having ties to the government in areas they had seized.
The Taliban threat came after the Afghan military launched a counterattack in the southern city of Lashkar Gah, where insurgents have infiltrated several parts of the town in numbers. The army told the city's 200,000 people to evacuate on Tuesday as they prepared their offensive.
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