News Analysis: Multiple terrorist attacks in Kabul expose security lapses: analysts

The three deadly suicide bomb attacks in this capital city on Friday underscored the limited ability of the Afghan government to provide security to the Afghan people, a respected political analyst has said.

"Launching the three deadly attacks right in the heart of Kabul city is unprecedented and has clearly demonstrated the weakness of security organ of the government," Sayed Ibrahim Darwishian, a Kabul University professor and political analyst, told Xinhua on Saturday.

The three deadly blasts on Friday have killed scores, injured more than a hundred and damaged properties worth millions of U.S. dollars.

This was the first coordinated attack launched by the Taliban since the confirmation of the death of Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar on July 30 and the installation of Mullah Mohammad Akhtar Mansoor as the new Taliban leader.

Immediately after he assumed the top Taliban post, Mansoor announced that his group would continue to wage terrorist attacks in Afghanistan until they can return to power.

Darwishian and other Afghan political watchers said the Taliban have been emboldened because of lax security in the capital which got worse after the departure of most of the foreign troops from the country late last year.

He said that if the security apparatus was adequate and security people were alert, they could have prevented the explosive-laden truck from entering the city.

An explosive-laden truck was rammed into the two-storey market in Shah Shahid locality in the eastern part of Kabul city at 1:00 a.m. local time on Friday, killing 15 people and injuring nearly 400 others, all civilians, including women and children.

The second suicide bombing that targeted the Police Academy in the western part of Kabul city left more than 40 people dead and injured, including police and civilians, the Interior Ministry confirmed in a statement released here Saturday.

Another suicide attack also on Friday targeted a base of the NATO-led Resolute Support (RS) mission in Qasaba neighborhood in northern part of the city, killing nine people, including a foreign soldier.

The Interior Ministry has also confirmed that 10 more people were injured in the attack on the RS base in Qasaba.

"No doubt, it is shocking to have three deadly terrorist attacks in the capital city Kabul in just a single day," Darwishian said.

Mullah Mansoor succeeded Mullah Omar after the latter's death amid row among Taliban senior leaders and commanders who wanted to replace Omar with his son Mullah Mohammad Yaqub. In his first audio message to the Taliban last week, Mansoor lashed at the peace talks and vowed to continue fighting the government.

Analysts here described Mullah Mansoor's statement as a declaration of war against the legitimate Afghan government. The group's threat to launch more terrorist attacks had all but wiped out any hope for a peace dialogue between the government and the militant group, one analyst said.

Jamil Junbish, former Kabul police chief and a respected security analyst, said that based on Mansoor's pronouncement, Afghanistan should expect more suicide attacks in the coming days.

"In order to thwart these attacks, Afghan security forces should improve its intelligence gathering network and its capability to respond to safeguard people's lives," Junbish told the local media on Saturday. Endi