Two Russian embassy personnel are killed when a suicide bomber detonates explosives near the building’s entrance in Kabul after being shot by Taliban security.
The bomber approached the embassy in the capital of Afghanistan.
The bomber, according to the police, was shot down by Taliban embassy guards.
Even though the bomber was shot, explosives detonated near the gate.
Two Russian embassy personnel were killed, while at least eleven others were injured.
Explosives were detonated while individuals waited in line to submit visa applications.
A pro-Taliban preacher was among the 46 persons murdered in a mosque explosion last week.
Two Russian embassy employees were killed today in a suicide bombing outside the embassy’s entrance in Kabul, according to the Russian foreign ministry.
Earlier, the Russian state-run news agency RIA reported that a diplomat and a security officer at the embassy were injured in the attack.
The bomber approached the embassy gates in the south of Afghanistan’s capital, but armed Taliban guards shot and killed him.
Despite the bomber being eliminated, explosives detonated, resulting in at least two deaths and eleven injuries, according to authorities. It was unclear whether the suicide bomber was among the two reported dead.
A Russian diplomat and security guard, both Russian citizens, were among those injured in the explosion, according to a report by the state-owned news agency RIA Novosti, citing a source.
The report stated that there were 15 to 20 casualties, but did not distinguish between those who were killed and those who were injured.
It was reported that the bombs were detonated as the diplomat was addressing a crowd of individuals in line for visa applications.
“Before reaching the objective, the suicide attacker was recognized and shot by Russian embassy (Taliban) guards… there is no information regarding injuries at this time,” Mawlawi Sabir, the commander of the police district where the attack occurred, told Reuters.
The explosion was the latest to strike the country in the year after the Taliban gained power in August of 2021.
The local affiliate of the so-called Islamic State group has intensified operations against the Taliban and civilians since the former rebels seized control of the country last year, as US and NATO soldiers were nearing the end of their pullout.
A suicide bomber detonated explosives at the entrance to the Russian Embassy in Kabul, police reported on Monday, adding that armed guards shot and killed the attacker as he neared the gate. Pictured is the Russian embassy in the 7th district of southern Kabul.
Russia is one of the few nations to have maintained an embassy in Kabul more than a year after the Taliban gained control of the country.
Although Moscow does not officially recognize the Taliban’s administration, they have been negotiating a deal to supply gasoline and other goods with Taliban leaders.
The bombing is the most recent in a string of attacks across the country, which was seized by Taliban rebels who toppled the last Western-backed government last year.
Since ousting the US-backed government, the Taliban claim to have improved security in the country, but there have been a number of explosions in recent months, some of which targeted crowded mosques during prayers.
On Friday, a massive bomb explosion outside a mosque killed many bystanders including a prominent pro-Taliban imam who had called for the beheading of those who perform “the simplest act” against the government.
Images and photographs released on Twitter depicted what seemed to be blood-stained bodies strewn about the compound of the Gazargah Mosque in the city of Herat, located in the western part of the country, and local media reported that many casualties were feared.
The bomber reached the embassy gates in the capital of Afghanistan, but was shot and killed by armed Taliban guards. On August 31, 2022, near Kabul’s airport, Taliban fighters are pictured riding in a vehicle on the anniversary of the evacuation of US-led soldiers from Afghanistan.
After an explosion during the Friday prayer at the Gazargah mosque on September 2, 2022, a Taliban fighter keeps guard along a route in Herat. A gigantic bomb burst
Friday, an explosion outside a mosque in Afghanistan killed a prominent pro-Taliban preacher and numerous others. Photograph shows the scene in Herat, western Afghanistan.
According to officials, Mujeeb Rahman Ansari was killed in the explosion. He was one of the 46 victims of the explosion.
Ansari had previously defended the Taliban vehemently at enormous gatherings of thousands of scholars and elders organized by the organization.
During a religious gathering in Kabul in July, he urged for the beheading of anybody who perform “the smallest act against our Islamic authority.”
He stated, “This (Taliban) flag was not raised easily, and it will not be removed quickly.”
Ansari was the second pro-Taliban preacher to be slain in an explosion in less than a month, following Rahimullah Haqqani, who died on August 17 in a suicide bombing at his madrasa in Kabul.
Haqqani was known for delivering venomous attacks against IS, who eventually claimed responsibility for his assassination.
He had also advocated for girls to be permitted to attend secondary school, despite the government’s ban on their attendance in the majority of regions.
Previous mosque attacks have been claimed by the Islamic State extremist group, which has carried out a series of attacks against religious and ethnic minorities, as well as Taliban targets.
Followers of the Islamic State are likewise Sunnis and view Shiites as infidels.
The United Nations has expressed worry about the increasing frequency of attacks, some of which have been attributed to a local affiliate of Islamic State.
Government officials assert that IS has been vanquished, but experts assert that the group poses the greatest security threat to the Islamist rulers of the country.
This story is breaking news. Still to come…
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