Afghanistan: Daesh Bomb Attack Kills at Least 20 in Kabul
Local Editor
Afghan police said the death toll from the previous night's suicide attack in the capital city of Kabul has jumped to 20, with another 27 policemen wounded in the latest attack claimed by Daesh [the Arabic acronym for terrorist ‘ISIS/ISIL' group].
The bombing took place on Thursday, when an attacker detonated his explosives near a group of security personnel who were carrying out an operation against illegal drugs and alcohol dealing.
Meanwhile, Wahid Majroh, a spokesman for the Ministry of Public Health, denied Daesh claims that the attack killed and wounded around 80 people.
Interior Ministry spokesman Najib Danish said immediately after the bombing that at least 20 people had lost their lives in the attack.
According to police officers at the scene of the blast, the bomber was hiding his explosive vest under a police or army uniform and was able to get close to the officers undetected.
"Kabul police forces were there to prevent a possible protest when a suicide bomber approached them and detonated his suicide vest," Kabul police spokesman Bashir Mujahid said.
The attack was carried out about a week after another Daesh-claimed mass killing in Kabul, when a bombing attack on a Shia cultural center and the nearby office of a media outlet martyred at least 41 people and wounded more than 80 others.
The terror group claimed responsibility for a number of similar attacks in Afghanistan over the past two years. Daesh has been seeking to expand its presence in Afghanistan after losing the territories under its control in Iraq and Syria.
Engulfed by long-running violence, many parts of Afghanistan remain plagued by militancy despite the presence of thousands of foreign troops.
In 2001, the United States and its NATO allies invaded the country as part of Washington's so-called war on terror, but the ongoing occupation has failed to bring peace back to Afghanistan 17 years later.
Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team
