Islamic State claims Afghanistan airport checkpoint bombing

ISLAMABAD — The Islamic State group claimed duty for a bombing close to a checkpoint on the Afghan capital’s army airport that killed and wounded a number of folks.

IS stated in a press release late Tuesday that Sunday’s assault on the checkpoint in Kabul was carried out by the identical member who took half in an assault on a resort within the capital in mid-December.

The regional affiliate of the Islamic State group — often known as the Islamic State in Khorasan Province and a key rival of the Taliban — has elevated its assaults in Afghanistan because the Taliban takeover in 2021. Targets have included Taliban patrols and members of Afghanistan’s Shiite minority.

IS printed a photograph of the attacker figuring out him as Abdul Jabbar, saying he withdrew safely from the assault on the resort after he ran out of ammunition. It added he detonated his explosives-laden vest concentrating on the troopers gathered on the checkpoint.

The army airport is round 200 meters (yards) from the civilian airport and near the Inside Ministry, itself the location of a suicide bombing final October that killed no less than 4 folks.

Abdul Nafi Takor, a spokesman on the Taliban-run Inside Ministry, stated the explosion left “a number of” folks lifeless and wounded, with out offering figures or additional info. He stated particulars of an investigation will likely be shared later.

Takor and Khalid Zadran, spokesman for the Kabul police chief, didn’t reply to requests on Wednesday asking for additional remark.

The checkpoint — situated on Airport Highway, which results in high-security neighborhoods housing authorities ministries, overseas embassies and the presidential palace — appeared broken however intact.

Zabihullah Mujahid, spokesman for the Taliban authorities, stated no less than seven IS members had been killed throughout a Taliban operation in Kabul on Wednesday. He added that seven IS fighters had been arrested from their hideout within the neighborhood of Shahdai Salehin.

A separate operation in western Nimroz province resulted in two extra IS arrests, Mujahid stated. Native residents from the world reported sounds of a number of explosions and an hourslong gunbattle. No different particulars had been instantly obtainable.