{"id":8994,"date":"2018-01-31T13:06:17","date_gmt":"2018-01-31T11:06:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/openasia.org\/en\/?p=8994"},"modified":"2018-01-31T13:06:17","modified_gmt":"2018-01-31T11:06:17","slug":"we-have-no-security-kabul-reels-from-deadly-ambulance-bombing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/openasia.org\/en\/2018\/01\/we-have-no-security-kabul-reels-from-deadly-ambulance-bombing\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018We have no security\u2019: Kabul reels from deadly ambulance bombing"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Guardian<\/a>\u00a0–\u00a0Fear and despair in Afghan capital after more than 100 are killed in suicide attack<\/p>\n

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Kabul has reacted with despair and fear to one of the worst attacks for months in the Afghan capital, which killed more than 100 people and wounded at least 235.<\/p>\n

There was helpless anger among residents on Sunday at the seemingly endless violence, after an\u00a0ambulance packed with explosives blew up<\/a>\u00a0in a crowded city street the previous day, with security officials warning that more attacks are possible.<\/p>\n

Mohammad Hanif, a shopkeeper, said: \u201cHow are we to live? Where should we go? We have no security. We don\u2019t have a proper government. What should we do?\u201d<\/p>\n

Describing the attack, he said: \u201cPeople were running everywhere to escape; there were wounded people lying on the ground, people with wounds to their arms, legs, heads.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wais Barmak, the interior minister, said the death toll had risen to at least 103. At least two vehicles painted as ambulances were involved in the attack, one of which blew up when it was stopped at a police checkpoint.<\/p>\n

The blast was claimed by the Taliban, a week after its deadly\u00a0attack on Kabul\u2019s Intercontinental hotel<\/a>, in a calculated answer to Donald Trump\u2019s strategy in Afghanistan.<\/p>\n

Zabihullah Mujahid, a\u00a0Taliban<\/a>\u00a0spokesman, said: \u201cThe Islamic emirate has a clear message for Trump and his hand-kissers that if you go ahead with a policy of aggression and speak from the barrel of a gun, don\u2019t expect Afghans to grow flowers in response.\u201d<\/p>\n

The US president, who last year\u00a0sent more troops to Afghanistan<\/a>\u00a0and ordered an increase in airstrikes and other assistance to Afghan forces, said the attack \u201crenews our resolve and that of our Afghan partners\u201d.<\/p>\n

The suicide bombing on Saturday was the worst in the Afghan capital since a\u00a0truck bomb near the German embassy<\/a>\u00a0killed 150 people last May.<\/p>\n

After a week in which the\u00a0office of Save the Children<\/a>\u00a0in Jalalabad was also attacked, the western-backed government of Ashraf Ghani has faced growing pressure to improve security.<\/p>\n

Despite a major tightening of checks following the embassy attack, the ambulance was able to get through the checkpoints, apparently without difficulty.<\/p>\n

The bombing, in one of the most heavily protected parts of the city, close to foreign embassies and government buildings, showed that the ability of the Taliban to mount deadly, high-profile attacks that undermine confidence in the government is undiminished.<\/p>\n

Pressure is likely to mount on Ghani to resolve political rows with his opponents, in particular with provincial power brokers defying central rule, and focus on security.<\/p>\n

Najib Mahmood, a political science professor at Kabul University, said: \u201cPeople think the government is working very badly and security is no good.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe government can control the situation, but the president has to share power with others, he needs unity with other parties so they can fight the Taliban together.\u201d<\/p>\n

The former US ambassador to\u00a0Afghanistan<\/a>\u00a0Zalmay Khalilzad called for Ghani\u2019s government and its main political rival, Atta Mohammad Noor, to \u201ccome together and resolve their differences\u201d.<\/p>\n

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The head of the UN mission in Afghanistan described the attack as an atrocity and it drew widespread condemnation from neighbouring countries and allies, who had expressed confidence that the US strategy was producing results.<\/p>\n

The Afghan president\u2019s office declared Sunday a day of mourning and said Monday would be a day off to allow for victims\u2019 families to be cared for.<\/p>\n

The UK foreign secretary, Boris Johnson, said he was \u201cshocked and appalled\u201d by the attack and condemned it in the strongest possible terms.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe use of an ambulance as a weapon to target civilians is despicable. Once again, so many innocent Afghan lives lost and so many people\u2019s lives affected. My heartfelt condolences go out to the victims and their families,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe UK stands resolutely with Afghanistan against terrorism and calls for those responsible to be brought to justice.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Guardian\u00a0–\u00a0Fear and despair in Afghan capital after more than 100 are killed in suicide attack Kabul has reacted with despair and fear to one of the worst attacks for months in the Afghan capital, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":8995,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,85,88],"tags":[836,815,129],"class_list":["post-8994","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-afghanistan","category-human-rights","category-slider","tag-afghanistan-terror-attack","tag-donal-trump","tag-taliban","country-afghanistan"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/openasia.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8994","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/openasia.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/openasia.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/openasia.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/14"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/openasia.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8994"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/openasia.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8994\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8998,"href":"https:\/\/openasia.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8994\/revisions\/8998"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/openasia.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8995"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/openasia.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8994"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/openasia.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8994"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/openasia.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8994"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}