May 2010 Kabul bombing | |
---|---|
Part of the Taliban insurgency | |
Location | Kabul, Afghanistan |
Date | May 18, 2010 |
Target | NATO convoy |
Attack type | Suicide car bombing |
Deaths | 18 |
Injured | 52 |
Perpetrator | Taliban |
The May 2010 Kabul bombing occurred on May 18, 2010, in Kabul, Afghanistan. 18 people, including 5 US soldiers and a Canadian soldier, were killed and 52 were injured when a NATO convoy was targeted by a Taliban suicide attacker. [1] It was the deadliest attack against NATO forces in Afghanistan since September 2009, when six Italian soldiers were killed by a suicide bomber. [2] [3] Two full colonels and two lieutenant colonels were killed in this attack, making it the deadliest attack against ranking officers in Afghanistan. [4] With this attack, the total number of Americans killed in Afghanistan crossed one thousand. [5]
President Hamid Karzai had recently returned from a trip to US to gather support for his policy to promote peace and reconciliation in Afghanistan. A jirga was planned to discuss methods to promote peace with the tribal elders. A military offensive was also being planned in the Kandahar Province. Shortly before this attack, the Taliban had announced 'Operation al-Fatah', which would target NATO forces, foreign diplomats, contractors and Afghan government. [3] Afghan police had set up several extra security checkpoints this year. In spite of these measures, the bomber was able to drive his vehicle into the city. [1]
Country | Number |
---|---|
Afghanistan | 12 |
United States | 5 |
Canada | 1 |
Total | 18 |
The bomber, driving a Toyota minivan packed with more than 1600 pounds of explosives, drove into a convoy of American military vehicles moving down the Dar-ul-Aman road at about 8 a.m. local time and exploded. [6] The blast created a deep crater in the road near the ruined Darul Aman Palace. [7] The bombing happened during rush hour near the National Assembly of Afghanistan. The blast destroyed 5 US military vehicles and 13 civilian vehicles. [8] Most of the dead were Afghan civilians including women and children in a public bus which was driving past when the explosion happened. [9] Five US soldiers were among the dead. The dead Canadian soldier was identified as Colonel Geoff Parker, originally from Oakville, Ontario. He is the highest-ranked Canadian soldier killed in Afghanistan. [2] [10] An American colonel, 2 American lieutenant colonels, 1 Staff Sergeant and 1 Sergeant. [11] The American officers were identified as colonel John M. McHugh, 46, from New Jersey, and lieutenant colonels, Paul R. Bartz, 43, of Waterloo, Wisconsin, and Thomas P. Belkofer, 44, of Perrysburg, Ohio. [4] Staff Sergeant Richard J. Tieman, of Waynesboro, Pennsylvania, and Sergeant Joshua Tomlinson of Dubberly, Louisiana, were also killed.
The Taliban took responsibility for the attack. [7] They stated that they had sent a man named Nizamuddin to carry out the attack. Several analysts believe that the attack reflected Taliban opposition to the upcoming peace jirga proposed by President Hamid Karzai. [12] According to Afghanistan's spy agency, the attack was allegedly carried out by Pakistan's spy agency Inter-Services Intelligence. Saeed Ansari, a spokesman for National Directorate of Security, Afghanistan's spy agency stated that 'All the explosions and terrorist attacks by these people were plotted from the other side of the border and most of the explosives and materials used for the attacks were brought from the other side to Afghanistan.' [11] According to US military intelligence officials, the Haqqani network, based in Pakistan, was also involved in the attack. [13]
The attack drew strong condemnation from Anders Fogh Rasmussen, the Secretary General of NATO. [2] Prime Minister Stephen Harper of Canada condemned the attack and mourned Parker, calling him a "great Canadian who will be greatly missed by the Canadian Forces family and his community." [14]
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.
Operation Mountain Fury was a NATO-led operation begun on September 16, 2006 as a follow-up operation to Operation Medusa, to clear Taliban insurgents from the eastern provinces of Afghanistan. Another focus of the operation was to enable reconstruction projects such as schools, health-care facilities, and courthouses to take place in the targeted provinces.
Events from the year 2007 in Afghanistan.
The Haqqani Network is an Afghan Islamist group, built around the family of the same name, that has used asymmetric warfare in Afghanistan to fight against Soviet forces in the 1980s, and US-led NATO forces and the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan government in the 21st century. It is recognized as a terrorist organization by the United Nations. It is considered to be a "semi-autonomous" offshoot of the Taliban. It has been most active in eastern Afghanistan and across the border in north-west Pakistan.
The Camp Chapman attack was a suicide attack by Humam Khalil Abu-Mulal al-Balawi against the Central Intelligence Agency facility inside Forward Operating Base Chapman on December 30, 2009. One of the main tasks of the CIA personnel stationed at the base was to provide intelligence supporting drone attacks in Pakistan. Seven American CIA officers and contractors, an officer of Jordan's intelligence service, and an Afghan working for the CIA were killed when al-Balawi detonated a bomb sewn into a vest he was wearing. Six other American CIA officers were wounded. The bombing was the most lethal attack against the CIA in more than 25 years.
Events from the year 2011 in Afghanistan.
These are the list of Terrorist attacks in Pakistan in 2010.
The following lists events from 2014 in Afghanistan.
The following lists events that happened in 2013 in Afghanistan.
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.
On the evening of 2 September 2019, a bomb on a tractor killed 16 people and injured 119 others at a housing compound used by international organisations in Kabul, Afghanistan. The target of the attack was foreign citizens living in the town; five Nepalis, two Britons and a 43-year-old Romanian diplomat were killed in the attack. Twenty-five other foreign residents were wounded, including another Romanian.
On 17 September 2019, two suicide bombings killed over 48 people in Charikar and Kabul, Afghanistan. The first attack occurred at a rally for president Ashraf Ghani which killed over 26 and wounded over 42. Ghani was unharmed in the incident. The second bombing occurred in Kabul near the US embassy. In this incident 22 were killed and another 38 were injured in the explosion. Children and women were among the dead and wounded in both attacks.
In a continuation of previous attacks by the Taliban in May and June, multiple clashes between Afghan security forces and the Taliban were reported. They carried out several attacks throughout Afghanistan, resulting in multiple fatalities on both sides. Both the Taliban and government forces have accused each other responsibility over the recent surge in violence across Afghanistan. The attacks come despite the signing of a peace deal with the U.S. in February that was intended to put an end to the war.