Twin Kabul suicide blasts kill at least 25, including journalists
Pfandergloria
30 April 2018
At least 25 people were killed, including Agence France -Presse chief photographer Shah Marai and five other journalists , when two suicide blasts ripped through Kabul on Monday , police and AFP have confirmed .
The attacks , claimed by the Islamic State group , are the latest deadly assaults on the Afghan capital and have spurred an outpouring of grief among journalists , many of whom took to Twitter to post tributes to their colleagues .
Kabul police spokesman Hashmat
said the second explosion came minutes after the first , and targeted reporters at the scene .
"The bomber disguised himself as a journalist and detonated himself among the crowd , " he said .
The interior ministry confirmed the death toll and said six journalists were among those killed. It also said 49 people had been wounded , amid fears the death toll could rise .
AFP confirmed that , along with Marai, two journalists from 1TV , one from Tolo news and one from Jahan TV were among the dead.
Marai joined AFP as a driver in 1996, the year the Taliban seized power , and began taking pictures on the side , covering stories including the US invasion in 2001.
In 2002 he became a full- time photo stringer , rising through the ranks to become chief photographer in the bureau . "I taught myself photography , so I am always looking to improve, " he said in a company profile in 2015. "Now my photos appear around the world .
"My best memories are when I beat the competition by getting the best photographs of the president or someone else , or from the scene of a bomb attack . I like to be first . "
He leaves behind six children, including a newborn daughter .
"This is a devastating blow , for the brave staff of our close-knit Kabul bureau and the entire agency, " AFP Global News Director Michele Leridon said .
"Shah Marai was a treasured colleague who spent more than 15 years documenting the tragic conflict in Afghanistan for AFP.
"We can only honour the extraordinary strength, courage , and generosity of a photographer who covered often traumatic, horrific events with sensitivity and consummate professionalism .
"We also send our condolences to the families of other journalists killed in this terrible attack . "
Tributes from Afghan officials , analysts , and journalists were pouring in on Twitter .
"NO , we can't lose Marai, I am devastated, " former interior ministry spokesman Sediq Sediqqi wrote.
The first blast came shortly before 8:00am ( 0330 GMT ) near the headquarters of the Afghan intelligence services , when a motorcyclist detonated his explosives, the interior ministry said .
It comes days after the Taliban kicked off their spring offensive in an apparent rejection of calls for the militants to take up the Afghan government ' s offer of peace talks.
A Taliban spokesman told AFP they were not involved in the attack . However, Western and Afghan officials suspect that the Taliban's Haqqani Network sometimes assists IS in carrying out attacks .
In an announcement issued via its propaganda agency Amaq , IS, which has dramatically stepped up its attacks in Kabul in recent months , vowed to target US forces and " their intelligence agents " as well as their "internal supporters".
The blasts follow several bloody attacks across the country including a bombing that targeted a voter registration centre in Kabul killing 60 people last week.
The Taliban said the offensive was partly a response to US President Donald Trump's new strategy for Afghanistan announced last August, which gave US forces more leeway to go after insurgents.
President Ashraf Ghani' s government is under pressure on multiple fronts this year as it prepares to hold long -delayed legislative elections in October , while its security forces struggle to get the upper hand on the battlefield and prevent civilian casualties .
Officials have acknowledged that security is a major concern because the Taliban and other militant groups control or contest large swathes of the country.
Some Western and Afghan officials expect 2018 to be a particularly bloody year .
General John Nicholson , the top US and NATO commander in Afghanistan, told Tolo TV last month that he expected the Taliban to carry out more suicide attacks this fighting season.
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