A deadly wave of attacks has left at least 42 dead and hundreds wounded in the Afghan capital of Kabul, dashing hopes that the Taliban insurgency has been weakened in the country.
The attacks, which occured on Friday, included a truck bomb in a heavily populated area of the Afghan capital and a suicide attack on a Kabul police academy.
Afghanistan's national police stand guard at the entrance gate of Police Academy
At least 26 people were killed and 28 more injured at the police academy, according to Afghan police officials.
In the early hours of Friday morning the hidden truck bomb detonated near an army base killing 15 civilians, exceeding earlier death tolls.
A member of Afghanistan’s residual Nato force was also killed on Friday night in a battle at Camp Integrity near Kabul’s airport.
The Taliban has only claimed responsibility for the suicide bombing of the police academy.
“The bomber was wearing a police uniform and detonated his explosives among students who had just returned from a break,” a police official said regarding the police academy bombing.
An Afghan policeman stands guard at the site of a truck bomb attack
The attacks are some of the most serious to occur in last few months and are the first in the capital since the Taliban announced the death of its leader Mullah Omar last week.
President Ashraf Ghani has suggested that the group wants to divert attention away from its leadership disputes following the death, according to the BBC.
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An injured victim of the truck bomb attack
Last week the Taliban released footage showing members of the group pledging allegiance to Mullah Akhtar Mansour.
Mansour, who had previously been seen as open to peace talks, has now pledged to continue the insurgency that has killed and wounded thousands this year.
The attacks have been claimed to represent another setback to a peace process between the Taliban and the government, which held its first meeting in July but was suspended last week.
Thomas Ruttig of the Afghanistan Analysts Network said: “The hope of some people was that the death of Mullah Omar would put the Taliban in disarray and possibly weaken them, I think that was a little over optimistic.”
Additional reporting by Reuters
