February 2010 Kabul attack | |
---|---|
Part of the Taliban insurgency | |
Location | Kabul |
Date | 26 February 2010 |
Target | Kabul city center, Indian presence in Afghanistan |
Attack type | Suicide attack, armed gunmen |
Deaths | 18 |
Injured | 36 |
Perpetrators | Taliban, Lashkar-e-Taiba |
The February 2010 Kabul attack on 26 February 2010 was a combined suicide bombing and shooting attack. A car bomb levelled the Arya Guesthouse, also known as the Hamid Guesthouse, [1] popular with Indian doctors. Two armed attackers then entered the nearby Park Residence, housing other foreigners. One detonated a suicide bomb, and the other was shot dead. The Safi Landmark Hotel nearby was badly damaged by the blasts. [2] At least 18 people were killed and 36 more were injured. [3] [4]
According to initial intelligence reports, the attack was directed against Indian presence in Afghanistan and was carried out by Pakistan-based militants. [5]
In early 2010, U.S. and British forces launched a major military campaign in Marjah during which the Taliban suffered a series of setbacks. [6]
In February 2010, India and Pakistan started peace talks for the first time since 2008 Mumbai attacks. The Taliban has strongly opposed Indian presence in Afghanistan, especially because India has extensively helped Northern Alliance forces in the past. [6] Pakistan, an arch-rival of India, is also against the increasing Indian influence in Afghanistan and Pakistani intelligence agencies continue to maintain deep ties with the Taliban. [6] India has contributed more than $2 billion for reconstruction in Afghanistan and has close ties with president Hamid Karzai who was educated in India. [7] Most of Indian aid goes into building roads, electrical power plants and providing health care. [8] American intelligence believe that a previous attack on Indian embassy in Kabul was supported by Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence. [9]
Hamid Guest House and Park Residence the two guest houses targeted are located in the Shar-e-Naw neighborhood of Kabul. [9] The first assault included a suicide car bomb attack next to Hamid Guest house frequented by Indian nationals in Kabul. [3] [9] It left a crater 12 feet across and 8 feet deep. Soon after the car bomb exploded, armed militants stormed Park Residence which is popular with Europeans which resulted in a firefight that lasted for more than 90 minutes. [3] [9]
Country | Number |
---|---|
India | 9 |
Afghanistan | 3 |
France | 1 |
Italy | 1 |
Total | 18 |
Of the 18 people dead, nine were Indian nationals. [9] Three Afghan police officers, a French filmmaker Severin Blanchet and an Italian diplomat Pietro Antonio Colazza were also among those dead. [7] [9]
The Times of India reported that among the dead were Indian Army and Indo-Tibetan Border Police personnel stationed in Afghanistan. [11] The dead also included Indian physicians treating poor Afghan children at the Indira Gandhi Children's Hospital. [9] Major Jyotin Singh was one of the doctors from the Indian army's Medical Corps who lost his life in preventing the attack. Major Jyotin Singh was unarmed but physically prevented the suicide bomber from entering the Arya guesthouse saving many lives. [12]
The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack within hours. [13] Their spokesman Mujahid said that the attack was not specifically targeted against India, but against Europeans and Americans. [14] The next week, however, Afghan intelligence officials said the Pakistani group Lashkar-e-Taiba was involved in the attacks, [15] saying in a TV interview they were "very close" to proving that "this attack was carried out by Lashkar-e-Taiba network, who are dependent on the Pakistan military." [16] U.S. intelligence officials and Pakistani analysts have said that Lashkar-e-Taiba militants have been training with associates of the Haqqani network in North Waziristan. [15] Indian officials suspect that the Taliban and the Lashkar-e-Taiba worked in concert. [15]
A report in The New York Times suggested that Pakistan and its agencies could be responsible for the attack. [9] A U.S. intelligence report says Pakistan "has continued to provide support to its militant proxies, such as Haqqani Taliban, Gul Bahadur group, and Commander Nazir group." Analyst Jeremy Page feared that the attacks could hamper the ongoing peace talks between India and Pakistan. [17]
Lashkar-e-Taiba is a terrorist group formed in Pakistan, and a militant and Islamist Salafi jihadist organisation. Described as one of Pakistan's "most powerful jihadi groups", it is most infamous outside Pakistan. The organisation's primary stated objective is to merge the whole of Kashmir with Pakistan. It was founded in 1985–1986 by Hafiz Saeed, Zafar Iqbal Shehbaz Abdullah Azzam and several other Islamist mujahideen with funding from Osama bin Laden during the Soviet–Afghan War. It has been designated a terrorist group by numerous countries.
Jaish-e-Mohammed is a Pakistan-based Deobandi jihadist terrorist group active in Kashmir. The group's primary motive is to separate Kashmir from India and merge it into Pakistan.
The Taliban insurgency began after the group's fall from power during the 2001 War in Afghanistan. The Taliban forces fought against the Afghan government, led by President Hamid Karzai, and later by President Ashraf Ghani, and against a US-led coalition of forces that has included all members of NATO; the 2021 Taliban offensive resulted in the collapse of the government of Ashraf Ghani. The private sector in Pakistan extends financial aid to the Taliban, contributing to their financial sustenance.
The 2008 Indian embassy bombing in Kabul was a suicide bomb terror attack on the Indian embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan on 7 July 2008 at 8:30 AM local time. The bombing killed 58 people and wounded 141. The suicide car bombing took place near the gates of the embassy during morning hours when officials enter the embassy.
The Pakistani Taliban, formally called the Tehreek-e-Taliban-e-Pakistan, is an umbrella organization of various Islamist armed militant groups operating along the Afghan–Pakistani border. Formed in 2007 by Baitullah Mehsud, its current leader is Noor Wali Mehsud, who has publicly pledged allegiance to the Afghan Taliban. The Pakistani Taliban share a common ideology with the Afghan Taliban and have assisted them in the 2001–2021 war, but the two groups have separate operation and command structures.
Pakistan and state-sponsored terrorism refers to the involvement of Pakistan in terrorism through the backing of various designated terrorist organizations. Pakistan has been frequently accused by various countries, including its neighbours Afghanistan, Iran, and India, as well as by the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, and France, of involvement in a variety of terrorist activities in both its local region of South Asia and beyond. Pakistan's northwestern tribal regions along the Afghanistan–Pakistan border have been described as an effective safe haven for terrorists by Western media and the United States Secretary of Defense, while India has accused Pakistan of perpetuating the insurgency in Jammu and Kashmir by providing financial support and armaments to militant groups, as well as by sending state-trained terrorists across the Line of Control and de facto India–Pakistan border to launch attacks in Indian-administered Kashmir and India proper, respectively. According to an analysis published by the Saban Center for Middle East Policy at the Brookings Institution in 2008, Pakistan was reportedly, with the possible exception of Iran, perhaps the world's most active sponsor of terrorist groups; aiding these groups that pose a direct threat to the United States. Pakistan's active participation has caused thousands of deaths in the region; all these years Pakistan has been supportive to several terrorist groups despite several stern warnings from the international community. Daniel Byman, a professor and senior analyst of terrorism and security at the Center For Middle East Policy, also wrote that Pakistan is probably 2008's most active sponsor of terrorism. In 2018, the former Prime Minister of Pakistan, Nawaz Sharif, suggested that the Pakistani government played a role in the 2008 Mumbai attacks that were carried out by Lashkar-e-Taiba, a Pakistan-based Islamist terrorist group. In July 2019, Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan, on an official visit to the United States, acknowledged the presence of some 30,000–40,000 armed terrorists operating on Pakistani soil. He further stated that previous administrations were hiding this truth, particularly from the United States, for the last 15 years during the War on Terror.
The 2009 Kabul Indian embassy bombing was a suicide bomb attack on the Indian embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan on 8 October 2009 at 8:30 am local time. The bombing killed 17 people and wounded 83.
Events from the year 2011 in Afghanistan.
There used to be a small community of Indians in Afghanistan who are Afghans of Indian origin as well as Indian construction and aid workers involved in rebuilding and humanitarian assistance efforts. India is often described as acting as a soft power in Afghanistan. Having committed a $2.3 billion aid programme, India is one of the largest donors to Afghanistan, investing in the economy, humanitarian aid, education, development, construction and electrical. According to Foreign Policy among Afghans there is a positive perception of India's role in the reconstruction efforts in Afghanistan.
The 2011 Afghanistan Ashura bombings were a pair of bombings in the Afghan capital of Kabul and Mazar-e-Sharif. The Kabul suicide bombing took place at around noon local time, on the day when Muslims commemorate Ashura, an annual holy day throughout the Muslim world particularly by the Shi'a Muslims.
The Indian consulate in Herat, Afghanistan was attacked on 23 May 2014 by four heavily armed militants, three days before the inaugural ceremony of Narendra Modi as the Prime Minister of India.
The following lists events that happened during 2015 in Afghanistan.
The following lists events that happened during 2016 in Afghanistan.
On the morning of 19 April 2016, Taliban militants attacked a security team responsible for protecting government VIPs in Kabul, Afghanistan. The initial attack killed 64 people and wounded 347. It was their biggest attack on an urban area since 2001.
Events in the year 2017 in Afghanistan.
A suicide bombing occurred on 21 March 2018 around 12:00 PM in Kabul near Kart-e Sakhi, a Shia shrine. At least 33 people were killed with more than 65 wounded in the bombing. The militant group ISIL claimed responsibility for the attack.
The Islamic State–Taliban conflict is an ongoing insurgency by the Islamic State Khorasan Province (IS-KP) against the Taliban regime in Afghanistan. The conflict initially began when both operated as rival insurgent groups in Nangarhar; since the formation of the Taliban's state in 2021, IS-KP members have enacted a campaign of terrorism targeting both civilians and assassinating Taliban members using hit-and-run tactics. The group have also caused incidents and attacks across the border in Pakistan.
On 1 July 2019, a combined gun and bomb attack took place in the Wazir Akbar Khan neighborhood of Kabul, Afghanistan. The attackers initially detonated a bomb-laden truck, after which five gunmen entered a nearby building under construction and fired on Afghan security personnel evacuating people onto the street. At least forty-five were killed, including the five attackers. The spokesman for the Afghan Ministry of Public Health, Wahidullah Mayar, said that 116 civilians, including 26 children and 5 women, were wounded. The Taliban claimed the responsibility for the bomb attack in Kabul and said although civilians were not the Taliban target, some were injured.
On 25 March 2020, ISIS gunmen and suicide bombers attacked the Gurdwara Har Rai Sahib in Kabul, Afghanistan.
In May 2020, a series of insurgent attacks took place in Afghanistan, starting when the Taliban killed 20 Afghan soldiers and wounded 29 others in Zari, Balkh and Grishk, Helmand on 1 and 3 May, respectively. On 12 May, a hospital's maternity ward in Kabul and a funeral in Kuz Kunar (Khewa), Nangarhar were attacked, resulting in the deaths of 56 people and injuries of 148 others, including newborn babies, mothers, nurses, and mourners. ISIL–KP claimed responsibility for the funeral bombing, but no insurgent group claimed responsibility for the hospital shooting.