Here it is bit modified and extended.
Afghanistan has blamed Pakistan for this morning’s deadly blast in Kabul that killed 80 and injured over 300. Tolo News has tweeted quoting Afghanistan’s National Directorate of Security (NDS) that the blast was carried out by the Haqqani Network with direct help of the ISI. No terror group has taken the responsibility so far while Taliban has denied any role in the attack. Taliban, in fact, strongly condemned the terror incident.
The Haqqani Network is an Afghan insurgent terror outfit based in Pakistan’s Waziristan and has carried out many high-profile attacks on US forces, high ranking Afghan officials and foreigners in Afghanistan. The network has ties with Taliban and Al Qaeda and the US considers it a major threat to Afghanistan’s stability.
TOLOnewsVerified account
@TOLOnews
NDS says today’s blast in #Kabul was planned by Haqqani
network in Pakistan with the direct help of Pakistan’s intelligence agency
(ISI)
9:58 PM - 31 May 2017
https://twitter.com/TOLOnews/status/869953848814821377
A report in Pakistan's The Express Tribune also corroborated the news break
quoting Dawa Khan Meenpal, deputy spokesperson of Afghan President Ashraf
Ghani, who told the US Government's Afghan initiative Radio Azadi that "investigation
was underway but the initial evidence suggested the attack was planned by the
Haqqani Network with the help of foreign circles in Pakistan". News agency AFP also confirmed that NDS
has blamed the Haqqani Network and Pakistan's ISI for the attack.
General John F. Campbell, then Commander of U.S. and NATO
forces in Afghanistan, had said in his testimony before the US' House Armed
Services Committee in February 2016 that “Haqqani Network remains the most capable threat to the U.S. and Coalition forces”. Campbell's assessment said the
Haqqani Network was behind "planning and executing most high profile
attacks in Kabul". Pakistan's continued patronage to the network has been
testing the US-led coalition forces in Afghanistan and the US has warned
Pakistan to act to dismantle the Haqqani Network or it will act alone to
eliminate it.
The Haqqani Network's most high profile attacks include April
2008 Hamid Karzai assassination attempt, December 2009 CIA's Camp Chapman attack
killing seven US agents, September 10, 2011 truck bomb explosion in
Afghanistan's Wardak province that killed five Afghans and injured 77 US
soldiers, September 12, 2011 attack on the US Embassy and NATO bases in Kabul,
plot to assassinate Afghan President Hamid Karzai again in October 2011 and
series of suicide attacks on the Afghan parliament and western embassies in
Kabul's diplomatic enclave.
Just days into Muslim holy month of Ramadan, the deadly explosion
in Kabul this morning killed over 80 and injured over 300 in one of the worst
terror strikes in the war-torn South Asian country. Bomb concealed in a
water-tanker exploded near Germany Embassy in Kabul around 9 AM local time in
the highly fortified diplomatic enclave of Kabul that houses many embassies and
the presidential palace of Afghanistan. The blast happened on a busy street with
shops, supermarkets and office during peak morning hours with rush of office
going people, shoppers and students and was so massive that many embassies,
including Germany, Pakistan, Turkey, France, Japan, Bulgaria and UAE have
reported damages. Some officials of German and Pakistani embassies have got
injured and the Germany has closed its embassy in Kabul till further notice.
TERRORIST VIOLENCE DURING RAMADAN
The Kabul blast today is the first big terror attack during
the holy month of Ramadan and if we see it in the context of the terror attacks
during last year's Ramadan, it may just be the beginning. Muslim holy month of
Ramadan usually sees a spurt in terror strikes by Islamic terrorists and going
by the reports, Ramadan in 2016 was the bloodiest ever with Islamic State
claiming to kill and injured 5200 during the month long fasting period. In terror
attacks spread over many countries, i.e., Bangladesh, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Turkey,
Kuwait, Lebanon, Yemen and Iraq, hundreds of people lost their lives during
Ramadan last year.
©SantoshChaubey