Assassination attempt on Afghanistan's vice president frustrates peace efforts
Firefighters spray water at the site of an explosion targeting the convoy of Afghanistan's vice president Amrullah Saleh in Kabul
Afghanistan's vice president Amrullah Saleh sustained minor injuries Wednesday when an explosion targeted his convoy and killed at least 10 people, as government-backed negotiators and the Taliban prepared to meet in Doha for long-delayed peace talks.
The attack in the capital Kabul was quickly condemned as an attempt to frustrate the peace process, with top Afghan and foreign officials calling for an end to violence so negotiations between the two warring sides can proceed.
In a video posted on Facebook soon after the explosion, Saleh, an outspoken Taliban critic, said he had been travelling to his office when his convoy was attacked.
"I am fine but some of my guards have been wounded. My son, who was in the car with me, and I are both fine," Saleh said, with bandages on his left hand.
"I have some burns on my face and hand. The blast was strong."
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The interior ministry said the bomb was placed on a hand cart and detonated remotely when Saleh's convoy passed by.
"Unfortunately, 10 civilians, mostly people who were working in the area, were killed, and 15, including a number of the first VP's bodyguards, were wounded," Tareq Arian, spokesman to the ministry, told reporters at the scene.
The Taliban, who have pledged not to launch attacks in urban areas under a deal with the United States, denied responsibility.
Interior Minister Masoud Andarabi suspected the Haqqani network, a US-branded terrorist group with linksto the Taliban, to be behind the attack.
It is headed by Siraj Uddin Haqqani, deputy leader of the Taliban. Herecently tested positive for the Wuhan virus and was treated at a Pakistani military hospital inRawalpindi.
Seeking to wriggle out of the FATF's grey list, Pakistan hadannounced sanctions on key figures ofthe Haqqani network in August.
"The type of explosive used... and nature of attack is similar to other attacks carried out and claimed by the Haqqani network in the past," Andarabi said on Twitter.
Saleh, the senior ofAfghanistan's two vice presidents, survived an assassination attempt last year ahead of presidential elections.
At least 20 people, most of them civilians,were killed and 50 others wounded when a suicide attacker and gunmen targeted Saleh's Kabul office at that time.