LeT, Haqqani Network behind Kabul attacks-NDS

The infamous Haqqani Network (HN) backed by militants of the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terror group was primarily responsible for the coordinated serial attacks in Afghan capital Kabul on Wednesday that claimed the lives of 15 people, said the National Directorate of Security (NDS).

The NDS, which is the intelligence wing of Afghanistan, said three separate attacks were carried out in Kabul. It said that one of the attacks occurred close to the Asian Development Bank office, in the downtown Shar-e Naw neighborhood, and the other in the western part of the city at a police headquarters. Those attacks killed at least seven people and wounded 17 others.

 

According to the New York Times, the attacks came a day after two rural northern districts fell to the Taliban, expanding the militant group's control over territory in Afghanistan.

The Islamic State militant group claimed responsibility for the attack on the Kabul police station, while the Taliban said it had carried out the strike near the Asian Development Bank.

In the first incident in western Kabul, assailants hurled hand grenades and blew themselves up, setting part of the police station on fire. The second attack unfolded in the city centre, where a suicide bomber struck the entrance to a police station in order to clear the way for another four bombers.

However, the NDS confirmed that both the HN and LeT planned the attacks in Police District#13 in Dashti Barchi, adding that there were clear indications of suicide bombers being involved in the operations. Al-Jazeera reported that eight suicide bombers took part in the attacks.

Khamma Press further quoted a statement of the NDS, as ruling out the involvement of the ISIS Khurasan in the attacks.

Afghanistan's Interior Minister Wais Ahmad Barmak said at least two attackers involved in the attack were eliminated by security forces. He also confirmed that two policemen had lost their lives during the encounter.

Barmak promised that a thorough investigation would be carried out. He admitted that militants are carrying out their attacks using different tactics.

Afghanistan's Western-backed government is fighting an intensifying war with both the Taliban and the ISIL group that has turned much of Kabul into a high-security zone of concrete blast walls and razor wire.

Kabul has seen an increase in bombings and other attacks against security forces and civilians since the Taliban announced the beginning of their spring offensive on April 25.

Fighting traditionally picks up in Afghanistan as warmer weather melts snow in mountain passes, allowing fighters to move around more easily.