Kabul: Suicide bombing kill 2 diplomats, one civilian at Russian embassy
A suicide bombing outside the Russian Embassy in the Afghan capital Kabul claimed two lives of members of the embassy staff and at least one Afghan civilian in a rare attack on a foreign diplomatic mission in Afghanistan.
According to the Russian Foreign Ministry and the state news agency RIA Novosti, the blast went off at the entrance to the embassy’s consular section, where Afghans were waiting for news about their visas.
A Russian diplomat had emerged from the building to call out the names of candidates for visas when the explosion occurred, the agency said.
The Islamic State group claimed responsibility, saying a militant wearing an explosive belt blew up at the embassy entrance.
It was the latest in a series of bombings and other attacks since the Taliban seized power a year ago, deposing a Western-backed government and capping their 20-year insurgency.
Meanwhile, Monday’s bombing, however, appeared to the first to target a foreign diplomatic mission in Kabul since the Taliban takeover. The campaign of attacks has largely targeted Taliban positions or mosques of minority groups, particularly Shiites. They have largely been blamed on the Islamic State group’s affiliate in Afghanistan, which opposes the Taliban and harbors a virulent hatred of Shiites, considering them heretics.
Kabul: Suicide bombing kill 2 diplomats, one civilian at Russian embassy
However, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov called the explosion “a terrorist act, absolutely unacceptable.”
Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said the embassy enhanced its security after the attack and additional Taliban authorities, including intelligence agents, were brought in.
“Let’s hope that the organizers of this terrorist act and its perpetrators will be punished,” Lavrov added.
Kabul police spokesman Khalid Zadran said at least one Afghan civilian was killed and 10 others wounded.
Mr. Zadran said security forces saw and shot the suicide bomber before he could get closer to the crowd outside the embassy. It was not immediately clear if the attacker was able to set off the blast before being shot, or if the gunfire detonated the explosives
