Al-Qaida behind recent bombing in Afghan capital
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Afghan government on Sunday blamed al-Qaida network for organizing the recent deadly attacks in the capital city Kabul that left 15 dead and injured over 70 others. "A terrorist arrested recently has confessed during an investigation to his link with al-Qaida and had led the seven terrorists that attacked Kabul last week," a senior intelligence official Mohammad Naeem Balouch told newsmen at a press conference Sunday.
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An Afghan seller shows fertilizer at his shop in the Afghan capital Kabul, Jan. 24, 2010. Since Taliban militants used the fertilizer type ammonium nitrate to make bombs, the Afghan government on Sunday formally banned using, producing and selling the item, and asked the shopkeepers and owners to finish the contraband within a month. [Zabi Tamanna/Xinhua] |
He also added that 188 terrorist networks have been unearthed and smashed; but did not give details.
The terrorists, he added, had used the fertilizer--ammonium nitrate in making explosive devices to target government interests.
In the recent attack on Kabul, a suicide bomber blew himself up by detonating a bomb that was made from ammonium nitrate, Balouch said.
Taliban in bloody attack in the capital occupied a five-story superstore near the Presidential Palace last Monday and targeted government buildings. However, the security forces eliminated them after hours of fighting.
During the gun battle lasted for six hours, two police, three civilians and 10 militants were killed and 71 others sustained injuries.
Following the incident, President Hamid Karzai issued a decree banning the use, product, storage and sale of ammonium nitrate.
