KABUL, Afghanistan: A suicide bomber on foot struck a government vehicle in Kabul Wednesday, killing at least six people and wounding 10 others, officials said, in an attack claimed by the Daesh group.
The latest bombing to hit the Afghan capital came during the morning rush hour, as militants intensify nationwide attacks on the Western-backed government.
“A suicide attacker on foot targeted a vehicle belonging to security forces in downtown Kabul,” interior ministry spokesman Sediq Sediqqi told AFP.
He put the death toll at six, including five civilians and one military official, with 10 wounded in the blast, which occurred close to the defense ministry.
Earlier, the interior ministry had put the death toll at four, including two security officials.
Another security official told AFP the targeted vehicle belonged to the government’s VIP protection unit.
The SITE monitoring group said the Daesh's (Islamic State’s) local Khorasan province affiliate had claimed the attack in a communique claiming it had targeted Afghan intelligence officials.
Fighters from Daesh, which controls territory across Syria and Iraq, have been making steady inroads in Afghanistan, winning over sympathizers, recruiting followers and challenging the Taliban on their own turf, primarily in the country’s east.
The assault underscores rising insecurity in the war-torn country nearly two years after US-led NATO forces formally ended their combat operations.
It comes after four Americans were killed on Saturday in a suicide bombing inside Bagram Airfield — the largest US military base in Afghanistan — in a major breach of security.
The Taliban claimed responsibility for the bombing, which left 16 other US service members and a Polish soldier wounded.
In July, Daesh jihadists claimed responsibility for twin explosions that ripped through crowds of Shiite Hazaras in Kabul, killing at least 85 people and wounding more than 400 others.
The bombings marked the deadliest single attack in the Afghan capital since the Taliban were ousted from power in a 2001 US-led invasion.
Suicide bomber kills six in Afghan capital
Suicide bomber kills six in Afghan capital
EU to suspend 93 billion euro retaliatory trade package against US for 6 months
- “With the removal of the tariff threat by the US we can now return to the important business,” Gill said
- The Commission will soon make a proposal “to roll over our suspended countermeasures”
BRUSSELS: The European Commission said on Friday it would propose suspending for another six months an EU package of retaliatory trade measures against the US worth 93 billion euros ($109.19 billion) that would otherwise kick in on February 7.
The package, prepared in the first half of last year when the European Union was negotiating a trade deal with the United States, was put on hold for six months when Brussels and Washington agreed on a joint statement on trade in August 2025.
US President Donald Trump’s threat last week to impose new tariffs on eight European countries over Washington’s push to acquire Greenland had made the retaliatory package a handy tool for the EU to use had Trump followed through on his threat.
“With the removal of the tariff threat by the US we can now return to the important business of implementing the joint EU-US statement,” Commission spokesman Olof Gill said.
The Commission will soon make a proposal “to roll over our suspended countermeasures, which are set to expire on February 7,” Gill said, adding the measures would be suspended for a further six months.
“Just to make absolutely clear — the measures would remain suspended, but if we need them at any point in the future, they can be unsuspended,” Gill said.
