Afghanistan: Kabul Blast Kills At Least 6

Facts

• Afghanistan's interior ministry said Monday that at least six civilians have been killed in a blast at a security checkpoint near the country's foreign ministry in a busy downtown area in Kabul during lunch hour.¹
• In addition, at least 12 people — including one child — have been injured, according to the Italian international humanitarian organization EMERGENCY. Kabul police confirmed that three security personnel were among those wounded.²
• Despite the suicide bomber being spotted by the Taliban forces and reportedly shot dead before reaching his target, his explosives detonated anyway. No group has immediately claimed responsibility for the attack.³
• This blast comes a day after the Taliban announced the killing of three key operatives of the Islamic State group regional affiliate, Islamic State-Khorasan (IS-K), in a recent operation in the northern Afghan province of Balkh.²
• The IS-K has increasingly claimed attacks in Kabul since the Taliban took over the country in mid-August 2021, targeting officials and patrols as well as the Afghan Shia minority.⁴
• Afghanistan's foreign ministry building was also the target of an explosion in January, which killed at least five people and injured dozens as employees left the building at the end of the working day.⁵

Sources: ¹Al Jazeera, ²Voa, ³Afghanistan international, ⁴Abc news and ⁵Reuters.

Narratives

• Pro-establishment narrative, as provided by Politico. This suicide attack in Afghanistan is just the latest example of how the 'emirate' is drifting into chaos and lawlessness since the West's withdrawal. This is compounded by economic collapse and an acute food crisis. But even in combat, the Taliban are failing. The ruthless rampage of the IS-K bears is a prime example of this. The US must prepare for an increasing threat to its security interests.
• Establishment-critical narrative, as provided by Business Insider. Afghanistan only makes the headlines when it comes to violence. More attention must be paid to the country's humanitarian catastrophe and underlying stressors. Due to the dire economic situation, 22.8M Afghans face acute food insecurity, and 3M children are at risk of malnutrition. The West contributes to this by, for example, not releasing Afghanistan's frozen reserve funds. This is overt moral bankruptcy.

Predictions