24 killed as two bombs go off near Afghan Defense Ministry
At least 24 people are killed as two explosions claimed by Taliban rip through Afghanistan's capital, officials say as the country continues to grapple with insecurity some 15 years after a US-led invasion.
The blasts went off near the Defense Ministry building in Kabul during late afternoon rush hour on Monday.
"Two suicide bombers, both on foot, detonated their explosives... in downtown Kabul," Interior Ministry spokesman Sediq Sediqqi said.
"The attackers blew themselves up one after another and unfortunately we do have police and civilian casualties," he added.
A spokesman for the public health ministry said at least 24 people were killed and 91 injured in the blasts. The toll might rise further, the spokesman, Mohammad Ismail Kawousi, added.
Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid claimed responsibility for the blasts on Twitter, saying that the Defense Ministry was the target of the first attack, while police were targeted in the second.
The explosions occurred after 13 people, including seven students, three police, two security guards and a doorman, were killed in an attack on the American University in Kabul on August 24. Thirty students were also injured.
Afghanistan has been gripped by insecurity since the US and its allies invaded the country as part of Washington’s so-called war on terror in 2001. Many parts of the country still remain plagued by militancy despite the presence of foreign troops.
Taliban have regrouped since the death of former leader Mullah Akhtar Mansour earlier in the year and are reported to be currently in control of some areas in Afghanistan.
Fierce fighting is currently ongoing between the Afghan army and the militants across the country, notably in Helmand and around the northern city of Kunduz, which they had briefly seized last year.
The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) says it recorded 1,601 civilian deaths and 3,565 injuries in Afghanistan in the first six months of 2016.
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