Kabul authorities confirmed that Friday’s suicide bombing in Qabel Bai area in PD9 resulted in the wounding of two Australian contractors.
Despite all efforts of Afghan President Ashraf Ghani who vowed a few weeks ago to take revenge on the battlefield of a war, the terrorists are still strong. On Wednesday Ghani took the opposite tack, inviting Taliban insurgents to “unconditional” peace talks, offering them dramatic concessions and recognizing the extremist militant group as a legitimate political force in Afghanistan’s future. But the violence continued Friday when a car bomb aimed at a NATO military convoy in Kabul killed two civilians and injured 20.
No terroristic group claimed responsibility, neither the formal response from Taliban leaders to the president’s unprecedented proposal at the opening of an international conference in the Afghan capital.
The most demotivating fact is the insurgents are continuing for months waging an aggressive military campaign in the countryside, where they now control or influence nearly half of Afghan territory while staging repeated attacks in the capital despite intensified security. Australia’s Foreign Affairs Minister Julie Bishop confirmed two of its nationals were wounded:
“The Australian government extends its sympathies to families and friends of people killed and injured by this attack,”
she said on Saturday.
Ghani’s offer to the peace talks
Friday’s suicide bomb explosion came just days after Kabul hosted the second Kabul Process conference in which the Afghan government sent a peace offer to the Taliban.
President’s offer included a cease-fire and prisoner swap, passports for Taliban representatives and their families, Taliban participation in elections and a review of the constitution as the group has demanded — was cheered by delegates from 25 countries who gathered to brainstorm how to create conditions for peace.
Until now, the Taliban has refused to negotiate with Kabul and said it will not join talks until all foreign forces have left the country. NATO and its member USA are expanding the size and role of the U.S. troop presence in an effort to strengthen the Afghan defence forces and bring the insurgents to a settlement. Alas, after 16 year of joint international efforts, the situation in Afghanistan is far from peaceful.
