Twin Bomb Explosion in Kabul Kills 21 People, One of AFP Journalists
Kabul - A coordinated and planned twin blast struck Kabul, Afghanistan on Monday, April 30, 2018 local time.
The incident killed a total of 21 people, including a photographer of the French news agency Agence-France Presse (AFP) named Shah Marai and a local TV videographer TV TOLO, Afghan authorities said as quoted by Fox News (30/4/2018).
The incident also caused 27 people were injured, said Ministry of Health spokesman, Wahid Majroh.
The first suicide bomb explosion occurred in the central Shash Darak area, which is the headquarters of NATO and a number of foreign embassies in Afghanistan. While the second explosion followed in the near future.
The second explosion was meant to hit people who were rushing to the scene of the first attack. Most of them are residents who want to help victims of the initial explosion as well as a group of journalists who want to do coverage.
Agence France-Presse confirmed that Shah Marai, who was the head of AFP photographers in Kabul, was killed in the second explosion.
Police spokesman Jan Agha said in addition to killing two journalists, the second blast also injured two police officers.
No one has claimed responsibility for the attack. But two militant groups, the Taliban and the ISIS in Afghanistan have long been active and repeatedly claiming attacks in Kabul.
Taliban Announce Start of Spring Attack
The twin bombings came days after the Taliban announced re-start Al Khandaq or Spring Offensive - a militant movement that regularly starts in the spring of each year - on Wednesday, April 25, 2018.
The move was seen as a disregard for the peace negotiations offered by Afghan President Ashraf Ghani - who wants reconciliation between the Taliban and the government.
On the other hand, in its announcement, the Taliban said it would focus its militancy on US forces in Afghanistan, the Associated Press reported, as quoted by The Australian, April 25, 2018.
The group that once ruled in Afghanistan discredited the offer of peace negotiations from Ghani and called the initiative a conspiracy. It is then used as an excuse for the Taliban to continue their militant movement this year.
"(The initiative) is a form of diversion of public opinion over the reality of the occupation of foreign countries in Afghanistan that continues to this day, where the US shows no goodwill to stop the war here," a Taliban spokesman said.
The militancy movement is also aimed at responding to US military operations, which the Taliban say is getting more aggressive since last year. The group also said the military operation was a form of US coercion that the Taliban want to participate in peaceful dialogue.
"(Therefore) we will target the US invaders and their intelligence agencies," said the Taliban. "US supporters will also be our secondary target."
The Taliban named the militancy movement as Al Khandaq, adopting the name of the war led by the Prophet Muhammad to defend the Holy City of Medina. The Western side and media call it the name Spring Offensive - as it happens in the spring calendar.
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