KABUL: At least 18 people were killed and 145 wounded when a Taliban suicide car-bomber detonated his vehicle on August 7 outside a police station in Kabul, Afghanistan’s Public Health Ministry said.
Women and children were among the victims of the attack that occurred at around 9 a.m. local time, the Interior Ministry’s Nusrat Rahimi said.
Deputy Interior Minister Khoshal Sadat told reporters that 92 of the wounded were civilians. Four police officers were among those killed, Sadat said.
The attack targeted the police District 6 (PD6) headquarters in Golaee Dawa Khana, a minority Shi’ite neighborhood in western Kabul. A military training school is situated in the same neighborhood.
The Taliban claimed responsibility in a statement.
Zabihullah Mujahid, a Taliban spokesman, said that one of its suicide bombers carried out the attack, which had targeted a “recruitment center for the enemy.”
“A large number of soldiers and police were killed or wounded,” the Taliban said in an August 7 statement.
Eyewitnesses said gunfire could be heard after the explosion.
The attack occurred as many Kabul residents were busy preparing for the Muslim holiday Eid al-Adha, which begins on August 11.
Despite peace talks between the Taliban and the United States, there has been no letup in violence in Afghanistan.
U.S. peace envoy Zalmay Khalilzad this week reported “excellent progress” at the talks meant to bring America’s longest war to a conclusion.
Khalilzad voiced hope that a final agreement could be reached by September 1. But the Taliban continue to refuse to talk to the Kabul government, dismissing it as a U.S. puppet.
