t/10 Wounded as Rockets Hit Afghan Capital on Independence Day
KABUL, Aug 19 (NNN-XINHUA) – Ten people, including four children and one woman, were wounded after 14 rockets struck in a diplomatic district and other neighborhoods in Kabul on Tuesday morning as the country is preparing to celebrate the 101st anniversary of its independence, a spokesman of the Interior Ministry confirmed.
“Roughly at 9:36 a.m. 14 rounds of rockets were fired from two sedans from Police District 8 and Police District 17 into the city center. Most of the rockets hit residential houses, injuring 10 people,” spokesman Tareq Arian tweeted.
Local media footage showed several vehicles and houses damaged by the rocket explosions and initial reports found that rockets struck Police Districts 1, 2, 10, 9, and 16.
The blasts sent columns of thick smoke into the sky in several locations and triggered panic.
The capital police have arrested two suspected terrorists from Police District 17 after the rocket attack, according to Arian.
No group has claimed responsibility for the attack yet. Over the past years, the capital city with a population of nearly 5 million has been hit by series of terror attacks by the Taliban insurgents and militants of the Islamic State (IS).
The attack came as the government has released more than 5,200 Taliban inmates from prison and Taliban militants freed hundreds of soldiers and kidnapped government staff, in part of a prisoner exchange.
A peace deal signed between the United States and the Taliban in Qatar in February required the Afghan government to free 5,000 Taliban inmates in exchange for Taliban’s release of 1,000 soldiers or government staff. — NNN-XINHUA