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A TALIBAN SUICIDE car bomber hit a French restaurant popular with foreigners in Kabul on Friday, in a New Year’s day attack that marks the latest in a series of brazen insurgent assaults.
Three people were wounded from the attack on Le Jardin, an Afghan-owned eatery, which caused a piercingly loud explosion and left a building engulfed in flames.
The attack comes a day after Afghanistan announced four-way talks in Pakistan on 11 January, aimed at jump-starting peace negotiations with the resurgent Taliban.
Security forces cordoned off the area and firefighters and ambulances with wailing sirens were seen rushing to the restaurant.
A spokesperson for the Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack and said the bombers targeted a restaurant belonging to foreigners.
Upcoming peace talks
The attack comes just days after Pakistan’s powerful army chief General Raheel Sharif visited Kabul to try to prepare the ground for fresh peace talks with the resurgent Taliban.
Both sides agreed to hold a first round of dialogue between Afghanistan, Pakistan, the US, and China on 11 January to lay out a comprehensive roadmap for peace, officials in Kabul said.
Pakistan – the Taliban’s historic backers – hosted a milestone first round of talks in July but the negotiations stalled when the insurgents belatedly confirmed the death of longtime leader Mullah Omar.
Afghanistan sees the support of Pakistan as vital to bring the Taliban to the negotiating table.
But despite the growing bonhomie with Islamabad, analysts caution that any substantive talks are still a long way off.
Afghan forces are currently battling to push back Taliban insurgents who seized large swathes of the key opium-rich district of Sangin in the southern province of Helmand.
Observers say the intensifying insurgency highlights a push by the Taliban to make more military gains to try to achieve greater concessions during talks.
The Taliban attacked a restaurant popular with expats, the Taverna du Liban, in January 2014, killing 21 people, including 13 foreigners.
Desperate customers tried to hide under tables as one attacker detonated his suicide vest at the fortified entrance to the eatery and two other militants stormed inside and opened fire.
(Additional reporting by AP)
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What on earth are “foreigners” doing over there?
Embassy, big business. Pakistan has a beautiful countryside but I doubt they get much tourism from the west, possibly other parts of Asia and middle east?
The attack was in Afghanistan, not Pakistan.
Oops, just embassies then
A resurgent Taliban, well done Obama.
ISIS , well done GW Bush / Joe MacCarthaigh
How GW Bush Funded the Taliban
http://www.cato.org/publications/commentary/how-washington-funded-taliban
“Dingle Holiday– @dingleholiday When travelling to Ireland you have to experience the wonders which the Dingle Penninsula has to offer Dingle, Co Kerry, Ireland”
When travelling to America you have to experience the horrors like Joe MacCarthaigh (shy anon Republican) offers the visitor .. He is not a typical American .. Praise the Lord
1. The Golden Crescent trade in opiates constitutes, at present, the centerpiece of Afghanistan’s export economy. The heroin trade, instated at the outset of the Soviet-Afghan war in 1979 and protected by the CIA, generates cash earnings in Western markets in excess of $200 billion dollars a year. Since the 2001 invasion, narcotics production in Afghanistan has increased more than 35 times. In 2009, opium production stood at 6900 tons, compared to less than 200 tons in 2001. In this regard, the multibillion dollar earnings resulting from the Afghan opium production largely occur outside Afghanistan. According to United Nations data, the revenues of the drug trade accruing to the local economy are of the order of 2-3 billion annually. In contrast with the Worldwide sales of heroin resulting from the trade in Afghan opiates, in excess of $200 billion
http://www.csun.edu/~hfspc002/news/cia.drug.html
See also :
NY Times: Afghan opium kingpin on cia payroll
NY Times Opium from Afghanastan
No Dingle he’s not, i dont consider people human if they can let Muslims kill with no punishment. And if you are American. I would ask you to get out of my Country thank you.
Would anyone want to go for a Dingle Holiday after reading the “stuff” posted on here? They’d probably rather go to Kabul.
Ah the taliban, the result of Russian, British and American foreign policy failures.
You forgot Pakistan and Islam.
The Americans kick-started the Taliban but Pakistan made it what it’s become, and now it’s biting them on the arse.
Afghanistan has been a basket case since before America existed.
Ted. Karma and i believe anyone who goes out to deliberately hurt maim another human being will get it ten fold.
Hope the lesbian and gay community in Afghanistan are safe and well and they were not hurt in this atrocity.
stupid Troll baiting comment
Homophobic is what you are dingle.
Wish to meet Taliban to ask why were they killing for & do we really believe their Allah approves their murderous campaign? Taliban are nothing but fcuking sick animals!
That’s a bit harsh on sick animals
Thosj AGREE They are animals and i am insulting those creatures.
They are great for killing Women and Children they feel big strong.
I wish those walking post boxes would stand up for their children they can still have their religion. Modern of course. Because in the end they will be stopped.
You really want be be a foreigner with a death wish to end up there. Since the time of the British, then the Russians and now Americans the Afghans have given them all the same “welcome” with a bang.
RIP in peace
ATM machine.
PIN number
Omg God
have your say