KABUL: A series of rockets struck Kabul on Saturday, killing one person and wounding two, officials said, the second such attack to rock the Afghan capital in less than a month.

“This morning, 10 rockets were fired from the Labe Jar neighbourhood of Kabul,” interior ministry spokesman Tariq Arian told reporters.

He said three rockets landed near Kabul airport and seven in residential areas, leaving one civilian dead and two wounded.

The militant Islamic State group issued a statement claiming responsibility for the attack, saying it was targeting the military section of Kabul airport, the jihadist media monitor SITE said.

The barrage of rockets on Saturday was the second such attack in less than a month in Kabul. On November 21, eight people were killed and 31 were wounded when 23 rockets hit the capital in an attack claimed by IS.

The jihadist group has also claimed two brutal attacks on educational centres in the capital that killed mostly students, including one on Kabul University during which gunmen sprayed classrooms with bullets.

Authorities blamed the attacks on educational centres on the Haqqani network, an affiliate of the Taliban.

Afghan Vice President Amrullah Saleh said on his Facebook page on Saturday that he had received a warning from IS that it would “transform Kabul into a slaughterhouse for Shias” if any of the jihadist group’s militants arrested by government forces were executed.

Published in Dawn, December 13th, 2020