Gunmen attack acting defense minister’s house in Kabul

KABUL: A car bomb attack occurred near the residence of acting Defense Minister Gen. Bismillah Mohammadi at around 8pm (local time) in downtown Kabul on Tuesday evening, followed by sporadic gunfire and hand grenade blasts.

The attack happened in the Shirpoor area of Kabul’s District 10, an area crowded with houses owned by high-ranking government officials. Security forces arrived at the scene shortly after the attack. Ambulances were also seen leaving the area within an hour of the start of the incident. A Defense Ministry spokesman said that the defense minister is fine as he was not at his residence when the blast occurred. The attack happened at a guesthouse belonging to the defense minister, sources said, adding that no one from his family was hurt in the attack.

Some lawmakers’ houses are also located in the area where the blast happened. A security source said that two attackers entered a building near to the office of Azim Mohseni, an MP from Baghlan, in the neighborhood of Bismillah Mohammadi’s house following the attack. Mohseni confirmed that he was not in his office. The attack comes as heavy clashes are underway between government forces and the Taliban in the city of Lashkargah in Helmand and in the city of Herat – in southern and western Afghanistan, respectively.