KABUL: At least five people were killed on Monday when a Taliban suicide car bomber struck near the entrance of Kabul’s international airport, the latest in a wave of lethal bombings in the Afghan capital.

The Taliban group, which claimed responsibility for the blast, has stepped up attacks amid a bitter leadership transition following the announcement of the death of their leader Mullah Omar.

Observers say the upsurge in violence represents a bid by new leader Mullah Akhtar Mansour to distract attention from the crisis roiling the militant movement as planned peace talks falter.

“The incident took place when a suicide car bomber struck the front gate of the airport,” said Kabul police spokesman Ebadullah Karimi.

“Five civilians were killed and 16 others wounded, including children,” he said, with the interior ministry confirming the toll.

Smoke billowed from the scene of the explosion, which occurred during the busy lunchtime period.

Pieces of charred flesh littered around the checkpoint, where passengers undergo the first round of body checks before entering the airport.

Ambulances with wailing sirens rushed to the site and were seen removing bodies from the area, which was strewn with the twisted and mangled wreckage of burning vehicles.

Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said two vehicles belonging to foreign coalition forces were the target of the attack, claiming that all people aboard were killed.

The Afghan interior ministry denounced the blast as a “heinous act (that goes) against the values of humanity”.

The attack follows a barrage of deadly bombings in the Afghan capital on Friday, which struck close to an army complex, a police academy and a US special forces base and killed at least 51 people.

They were the first major attacks since Mullah Akhtar Mansour was named as the new Taliban chief in an acrimonious power transition after the insurgents confirmed the death of longtime leader Mullah Omar.

Some top leaders of the insurgency, including Mullah Omar’s son and brother, have refused to pledge allegiance to Mullah Mansour, saying the process to select him was rushed and even biased.

Tayeb Agha, the head of the Qatar political office set up in 2013 to facilitate talks with Kabul, resigned last week in protest at Mansour’s appointment and two more members of the office followed suit.

The wave of violence underscores Afghanistan’s volatile security situation amid a flailing peace process.

The first face-to-face talks aimed at ending the 14-year insurgency took place last month between the Afghan government and the Taliban in Murree.

The Taliban distanced themselves from a second round of talks scheduled for the end of July, after the announcement of Omar’s death.—AFP

Published in Dawn, August 11th, 2015

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