IRAQI MAN ARRESTED IN KABOL CARRYING EXPLOSIVES
KABUL 22 Nov. (IPS) Afghan authorities said Friday they arrested an Arab man, believed to be Iraqi, carrying explosives in a posh residential area of the capital, aiming probably the Defence Minister.
It's believed Defence Minister General Mohammad Qasem Fahim was the
target, his secretary, Golboddin Hamdard, told reporters.
The man, who was not identified, was picked up on a street corner in the capital's Wazir Akbar Khan district, which houses a number of diplomatic missions and government ministers, he added.
"The Minister often travels this route. We are still investigating, but we think he was a suicide bomber", Hamdard said.
It was not established if the man had any connection to the al-Qa’eda or the former Taleban government that was booted out of Afghanistan after the military intervention of the United States, following the deadly attacks on New York and Washington D.C., believed to be the work of the terrorist organisation that has bases in the war-torn Afghanistan.
As clashes between rival warlords continued both in the north and west of Afghanistan, the capital has been nervous since a 5 September car bomb that killed 30 people and wounded more than 150 others in the heart of the city. There have been half a dozen smaller explosions since August, but they have caused little damage.
A rocket exploded in the centre of a residential area of Kabol late Thursday, security officials said, just days after police foiled an attempt to blow up the main power station supplying the Afghan capital. There were no deaths or injuries.
Sporadic attacks also continued against American and United Nations forces. There have been no claims of responsibility for the operations, but the government blames remnants of the Taleban, al-Qa’eda, or loyalists of former prime minister, CIA informer and Iran’s ally, Golboddin Hekmatyar.
General Fahim has already survived one attempt on his life, when he was visiting Jalalabad, earlier this year. At least four people were killed and many more, all passer by and well-wishers, wounded in the assassination plot.
Mr Fahim and his Northern Alliance faction form a key part of the Americans and the UN-installed President Hamid Karzai's government. ENDS IRAQI ARRESTED IN KABOL 221102