Afghani VP Saleh escapes major assassination attempt on his life, as terrorists target his convoy in Kabul. The Taliban deny the responsibility of the deadly attack, which killed 10 people
@the_news_21
New Delhi: In a major terrorist attack on Afghanistani leadership, Kabul’s Vice President Amrullah Saleh sustained minor injuries on 9 September, when his convoy was targeted in an explosion that killed at least 10 people and wounded more than a dozen people.
The deadly attack was condemned as an attempt to frustrate the ongoing Afghan peace process, coming as the government readies to send negotiators to Doha for long-delayed talks with the radical Taliban.
In a video posted on a social media website, few minutes after the explosion, Saleh, who has been an outright and strong critic of the Taliban, said that he had been traveling to his office when his official convoy was attacked. In his statement, Saleh said, ‘I am fine but some of my guards have been wounded. My son, who was in the car with me, and I are both fine. The blast was strong.’ He was seen in the video with bandages wrapped on his left hand.
According to Tareq Arain, a spokesman for Afghanistan’s interior ministry, the explosion targeted Saleh’s convoy. “Unfortunately, 10 civilians, mostly people who were working in the area, were killed, and 15, including a number of the first VP’s bodyguards, were wounded,” Arain told international media.
Meanwhile, the Taliban, who had pledged not to launch attacks in populated areas under an agreement with the United States, denied the responsibility of the blast.
Saleh is the senior of Afghanistan’s two vice presidents, had survived an assassination attempt in 2019 as well. During this attack, 20 people were killed and 50 others wounded when a suicide attacker and gunmen targeted Saleh’s office in Kabul.
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President Ashraf Ghani, who met Saleh soon after the blast, condemned the attack on his first-deputy. “The terrorists and their foreign backers cannot undermine the people’s strong faith in peace, democracy, and the bright future of our country,” Ghani said in a statement.
International Agencies Condemn Attack
Strongly condemning the attack on the Afghani Vice President, the European Union (EU) on Wednesday said that this attack was a desperate act by spoilers of peace efforts. The EU’s statement was seconded by NATO’s mission in Kabul which stated that the ‘enemies of peace’ were ignoring the will of the Afghan people for peace talks to begin.
The intra-Afghan peace talks were supposed to commence in March but were repeatedly delayed over a prisoner swap that included the release of hundreds of battle-hardened insurgents.
