Kabul suicide attack: British security

contractor among three dead

Taliban claim responsibility for attack near airport on convoy belonging
to EU police mission that also killed two Afgan girls and injured 22 others

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Sune Engel Rasmussen in Kabul0-Sunday 17 May 2015

A British security contractor was among three people killed in Kabul on

Sunday when a suicide bomber attacked a convoy belonging to
the European Union police mission (Eupol) outside the Afghan capitals
airport.
A spokesperson for the British embassy in Kabul confirmed that a British
man had died but declined to give further details before receiving approval
from next of kin.
Two Afghan girls were also killed in the attack, according to Kabir Amiri, a
spokesperson for public hospitals in Kabul, who said an additional 22 people
had been injured. According to Eupol, another two of its service members
sustained non-serious injuries.

The foreign secretary, Philip Hammond, said in a statement: I can confirm

that a British security contractor is among those killed in the attack. His
family has been informed and my thoughts are with them at this incredibly
difficult time.

Afghan and foreign security forces inspect the site of the suicide attack near Kabul airport. Photograph: Shah
Marai/AFP/Getty Images

The European Unions foreign policy chief, Federica Mogherini, said the
British victim had been part of the missions close protection team.
In a statement on Twitter, a Taliban spokesman claimed responsibility for
the attack. The insurgents have ramped up violence as part of their annual
spring offensive, which they have claimed will target foreign invaders and
their agents.
However, all the Afghan casualties in Sundays attacks were civilians,
authorities said. Sediq Sediqqi, spokesman for the interior ministry, said
that aside from the two girls killed, the injured included eight women and
three children.
Zabiullah Mujahed, a spokesman for the Taliban, confirmed to the Guardian
that a suicide attacker from Logar province had struck the foreign convoy
outside the airport. Asked whether the Taliban intended to target civilians
as part of their offensive, the spokesman denied the number of civilian

casualties claimed by authorities.

Sediqqi said: Their target has always been civilians ... They use civilians as
shields. The target of this spring offensive, we dont see a difference.
The attack occurred around 9am, when the airport is at its busiest, with
passengers arriving for domestic and international flights, and cars queuing
up in a roundabout outside the entrance gate to get through security
control.
The bomber drove a white Toyota Corolla and struck about 200 metres from
the main airport entrance, when the European police convoy was on its way
to a Natomilitary installation nearby, a police spokesman, Ebadullah Karimi,
told news agencies. The blast from the explosion could be heard several
miles away, from where a white plume of smoke could also be seen.
A shopkeeper, Fraidon Khan, said he saw the car slam into a convoy of
foreigners. I saw three dead bodies. One of them was a child and two were
women, he told Reuters.
The attack at the airport caps a bloody week for civilians in Kabul. On
Wednesday, gunmen killed five Afghans and nine foreigners at a
guesthouse in the capital, including several aid workers. One of the victims
was an Afghan-British national.
The Taliban also claimed to have been behind that attack, stating that the
victims, who had gathered to watch a music performance, were targeted
because they were foreigners.
This is the second attack in a matter of days for which the Taliban have
claimed responsibility and I strongly condemn their cowardly actions,
foreign secretary Hammond said.
These attacks must not stop the people of Afghanistan, with the support of
the international community, working towards a more peaceful future.
Eupol chief, Pia Stjernvall said: I can assure you that this appalling crime

will not stop Eupol from continuing its support to the people and
government of Afghanistan.
The rise in attacks has taken a heavy toll on Afghan civilians, according to
the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (Unama). In the first
four months of 2015, civilian casualties from attacks jumped 16% over the
same period last year, a recent Unama statement said.
Posted by Thavam