Six killed, several injured in 'heavy' explosion on Foreign Ministry's Road in Kabul

At least six people were killed and several others were injured after a blast rattled Afghanistan’s national capital Kabul on Monday. According to the Afghan news outlet Tolo News, the explosion occurred on the Taliban Foreign Ministry's road near the Daudzai Trade Center. 

Eyewitnesses in the area called the blast a “heavy explosion”. Meanwhile, the Kabul hospital run by the EMERGENCY non-governmental organization said it received two fatalities from the explosion and 12 wounded, including a child.

🔴 #Afghanistan: Explosion in #Kabul near the Ministry of Foreign Affairs #MOFA. Our Surgical Centre has received 12 wounded patients, including a child, and 2 other victims already dead on arrival.

— EMERGENCY NGO (@emergency_ngo)

No one has claimed responsibility for the attack so far. It was the second time this year that there has been an attack near the ministry.

Taliban security forces spotted the bomber

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the bombing but the regional affiliate of the Islamic State group has increased attacks since the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan in mid-August 2021. IS has targeted Taliban officials and patrols, as well as members of the country’s minority Shiites.

According to Khalid Zadran, a spokesman for the Kabul police chief, Taliban security forces spotted the bomber before he was able to reach a checkpoint at the Malik Asghar intersection, near the ministry.

The attacker then detonated his explosives, killing at least six civilians. Three members of the Taliban security forces were among those wounded in the attack.

In mid-January, an IS attack near the ministry killed at least five people and wounded several others. Checkpoints line the fortified route to the ministry, which is on one of the roads leading to the presidential palace. Guards stop and search vehicles and people along the way.

The Islamic State group has also claimed other recent attacks in Kabul, including a bombing near a checkpoint at the city’s military airport that killed and wounded several people and also an assault on a Kabul hotel in mid-December.