Today’s suicide bombing attack near the entrance to Moscow’s embassy in Kabul claimed the lives of two embassy employees, according to the foreign ministry of that nation.
An earlier report from the state-run RIA news agency in Russia claimed that the bombing had injured a diplomat and an embassy security guard.
The bomber tried to enter the embassy’s gates in the capital city of Afghanistan, but armed Taliban security guards shot him dead.
Despite the bomber being taken down, explosives still went off, according to police, killing at least two people and injuring 11.
It was unclear if the suicide bomber was one of the two people who died.
According to a source cited by state-run news agency RIA Novosti, among those hurt in the explosion were a Russian diplomat and a security guard who are both citizens of the country.
According to RIA, the explosion occurred as a Russian diplomat called out the names of applicants for visas to the crowd gathered outside.
The report did not distinguish between the dead and the injured but stated that there were between 15 and 20 casualties. Later, it claimed that the death of two members of its staff as well as a citizen had been confirmed by the Russian foreign ministry.
The explosion, the latest to hit the nation in the year since the Taliban seized power in August 2021, elicited no immediate claims of responsibility.
Since the former insurgents took control of the nation last year as US and Nato troops were nearing the end of their withdrawal, the local affiliate of the so-called Islamic State group has increased attacks against the Taliban and civilians.
The explosion happened in the Afghan capital “in the immediate vicinity of the entrance to the consular section of the Russian Embassy,” according to a statement from the Russian Foreign Ministry.
The ministry reported that “an unknown militant detonated an explosive device.”
“Two members of the diplomatic mission were killed as a result of the attack, and Afghan citizens also suffered casualties.”
“The suicide attacker before reaching the target, was recognised and shot by Russian Embassy (Taliban) guards,” Mawlawi Sabir, the head of the police district where the attack occurred, told Reuters. “There is no information about casualties yet.”
After the Taliban overran the nation more than a year ago, Russia is one of the few nations to still have an embassy there.
Moscow has been in discussions with authorities about a supply arrangement for gasoline and other goods, even though it does not officially recognise the Taliban’s administration.
The blast is the most recent in a string of assaults that have taken place throughout the nation since Taliban terrorists took control of it last year and toppled the previous Western-backed administration.
The Taliban assert that since toppling the US-backed government, security in the nation has improved; yet, there have been a number of explosions in recent months, some of which targeted crowded mosques during prayer.
A devastating explosion outside a mosque on Friday claimed the lives of several innocent bystanders as well as a prominent pro-Taliban imam who had earlier this year demanded the beheading of everyone who committed “the simplest act” against the government.
Local media said that many fatalities were anticipated as images and videos shared on Twitter revealed what seemed to be blood-stained corpses spread across the Gazargah Mosque property in Herat city, which is located in the west of the nation.
According to authorities, the explosion killed the cleric Mujeeb Rahman Ansari. He was one of the 46 victims of the blast.
Ansari had earlier delivered a vehement defence of the Taliban during a significant meeting of thousands of academics and wise men and women that was organised by the organisation.
He demanded the beheading of everyone who does “the tiniest act against our Islamic authority” in July during a religious gathering in Kabul.
This (the Taliban flag’s) raising and lowering have not been simple, he said.
Ansari was the second pro-Taliban religious leader to perish in an explosion in less than a month, following the death of Rahimullah Haqqani on August 17 in a suicide attack at his madrassa in Kabul.
Haqqani was well known for his vehement statements against IS, which eventually took credit for his demise.
In spite of the government’s restriction on females attending courses in most regions, he had also advocated for their admission to secondary school.
The Islamic State terrorist organization, which has launched a slew of strikes targeting Taliban targets as well as religious and racial minorities, has previously claimed responsibility for mosque bombings.
Sunni as well, Islamic State supporters view Shiites as heretics.
The increasing frequency of attacks has drawn concern from the UN, and some explosions have been attributed to a local Islamic State affiliate.
Although government officials assert that IS has been vanquished, experts contend that the group still poses the biggest security threat to the country’s Islamist rulers.
This news item is current. We’ll have more soon.
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