Daily Times

KABUL: At least 20 policemen were killed Monday when a Taliban suicide bomber struck a police base in Kabul, just days before a fresh round of international talks aimed at reviving dialogue with the Islamist group.

Scores of people were also wounded as the attacker blew himself up in a queue of police officers waiting to enter the base, leaving several bodies and charred debris strewn around the area.

The carnage marks one of the worst attacks on Afghan forces in recent months, despite a renewed international push to restart formal peace talks, which stalled last year.

“As a result of the terrorist attack near the Afghan National Civil Order Police Headquarters… 20 people were martyred and 29 others were wounded,” the interior ministry said in a statement.

A senior ministry said that all of those killed were policemen, and at least three critically wounded officers were battling for their lives in hospital.

The Health Ministry said some of those wounded were hit in the chest by flying shrapnel.

Ambulances rushed to the scene, which was cordoned off by authorities after the bombing, which comes amid the Taliban’s unprecedented winter offensive.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack, with spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid claiming on Twitter that up to 40 police were killed and wounded.

The militants routinely exaggerate the toll in attacks on the Afghan government.

The carnage comes just ahead of a third round of four-country “roadmap talks” trying to lay the groundwork for direct dialogue between Kabul and the Islamist group.

Delegates from Afghanistan, Pakistan, China and the United States are set to convene in Islamabad on February 6 in a bid to seek a negotiated end to the Taliban insurgency, now in its fifteenth year.

In recent months, the Taliban briefly captured the northern city of Kunduz, the first urban centre to fall to the insurgents, and have seized territory in the southern province of Helmand.

Observers say the intensifying insurgency highlights a push by the militants to seize more territory in an attempt to wrangle greater concessions during talks.

Pakistan hosted a milestone first round of talks directly with the Taliban in July. But the negotiations stalled when the insurgents belatedly confirmed the death of long-time leader Mullah Omar, sparking infighting within the group.

The first and second round of the four-country talks were held last month in Islamabad and Kabul respectively.

Meanwhile, Pakistan has strongly condemned the terrorist attack in Kabul at a police compound, which resulted in the loss of innocent lives and injuries to several others.

“The government of Pakistan expresses its condolences to the Afghan government as well as the bereaved families. “We reiterate our condemnation of terrorism in all its forms and manifestations,” a foreign office statement said.

In a separate statement, the NATO mission condemned the attack, which it said killed 20 police officers and wounded 25 others as well as seven Afghan civilians.

“Once again, terrorists have targeted a populated area with no regard for innocent lives.”said Brigadier General Wilson Shoffner, Resolute Support deputy chief of staff for communications.

Ambulances and police vehicles rushed to the explosion site in the crowded Dehmazang district west of the city, near the Kabul traffic directorate, which is visited by those seeking driving licences and other documents. “I saw three bodies on the ground and a number of other people wounded, then ambulances arrived and took all the victims away,” witness Mohammad Ajmal said.

Last August, a Taliban suicide bomber killed dozens of students at a police academy in Kabul, using a similar tactic by joining a queue waiting to enter the compound. The Afghan National Civil Order Police (ANCOP) was set up as a gendarmerie-style unit to control riots and urban disorder but have also been used in counterinsurgency roles against the Taliban.