Hours after Zamlay Khalilzad, US Special Envoy for Afghanistan Reconciliation, left the Presidential Palace, a thick black smoke rose from the Green Village, a heavily-guarded area in the east of Kabul where several international NGOs and guesthouses are located.
Nasrat Rahimi, spokesperson for the Ministry of Interior, confirmed the attack. He said around 400 foreign NGO employees had been rescued after the suicide bomber targeted the compound late on Monday. He said that as many as five attackers were shot dead by special force unite of the Afghan police. Rahim said that 16 people were killed and 119 others were wounded in this attack.
Zabihullah Mujahid, Taliban spokesman, claimed responsibility for the attack. He also claimed that no civilian was killed in attack on the Green Village.
The attack happened just hours after Zalmay Khalilzad briefed the Afghan government on an agreement “in principle.” Hours before the attack, Khalilzad showed a draft of the agreement to the Afghan President Ashraf Ghani but he avoided giving much details about it. The agreement still needs President Donald Trump’s approval.
Ashraf Ghani condemned the attack but there was immediate comment from US Especial Envoy for Afghanistan Recompilation.
