Afghanistan: Blast at Kabul military airport leaves several dead, wounded

A blast at the military airport in Afghanistan’s capital Kabul has left several dead and wounded. An investigation is underway as no one has yet to claim responsibility for the attack.

A Taliban official said on Sunday that the blast in Kabul’s military airport has killed and wounded multiple people. Interior ministry spokesman Abdul Nafi Takor added that an investigation was taking place but did not disclose the nature or the target of the latest attack.

According to local residents, an explosion was heard in the vicinity of the military side of the airport. Security forces have sealed off the area, and all roads have been closed.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack, but the Taliban’s rivals, the Islamic State militant group, have ramped up their attacks on Afghan soil since the Taliban returned to power in August 2021. The militant group has since targeted Taliban officials and members of the Shia Muslim minority in Afghanistan.

Hundreds of people have since been killed and wounded in attacks under the Taliban’s rule.

“ISIS-K is the only enemy claiming the illegality of the Islamic emirate of Afghanistan,” political commentator and journalist Nasratullah Haqbal told Al Jazeera. Haqbal added that the attacks have resulted in Afghans questioning the claims by the Taliban of bringing security to the country.

“The second point is that it creates concerns among the public of Afghanistan because we know the situation is not good economically, politically, and socially, so such type of explosions and attacks bring these questions that the current government is unable to secure the people,” said Haqbal.

A senior United Nations official said Thursday last week that UN aid chief Martin Griffiths is set to visit Afghanistan in the coming weeks to meet with Taliban officials following the group’s latest restriction on female aid workers. The Taliban came under fire when it ordered a ban on female humanitarian workers, days after it ordered universities to bar women from attending.

The UN previously said 97 percent of Afghanistan’s population lives in poverty, two-thirds of the country rely on aid to survive, and 20 million people face acute hunger.