KABUL: A suicide bomber targeted an Afghan Special Forces base in Kabul on Thursday, killing at least four commandos, officials said, as violence continued to escalate following the collapse of peace talks between the United States and Taliban insurgents.
The bomber blew up an explosives-laden minibus at the entrance to the camp in Chahar Asyab district, killing the four special forces members and wounding another three, the Defense Ministry said in a statement.
Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid issued a statement claiming responsibility for the attack, which he said killed more than 200 commandos. The insurgents routinely issue exaggerated casualty claims.
Mujahid said the bomber had been infiltrated into the base well before the attack.
The latest attack underscored expectations of an escalation in violence following US President Donald Trump’s sudden cancelation of the talks with the Taliban aimed at withdrawing US troops and ending 18 years of war in Afghanistan.
In Washington, Trump’s nominee to be the secretary of the US Army said walking away from the talks was the correct decision.
“I think that it was the right decision to step back from the table and try to look at how do you get to a framework to bring a political end state to the conflict,” Ryan McCarthy told a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing.
McCarthy said that he believed that the United States would continue to need not only a counterterrorism capability, but also the ability to advise and assist Afghan security forces.
“We can’t take our eye of the ball there until a time where there is a much greater maturity in the strength within the Afghan government,” McCarthy added.
Last week, a Taliban suicide blast killed at least 10 civilians and two NATO service members near the US embassy in Kabul.
![]()
Taliban car bomb blast kills four Afghan special forces in Kabul
Taliban car bomb blast kills four Afghan special forces in Kabul
- The bomber blew up an explosives-laden minibus at the entrance to the camp in Chahar Asyab district
Colombia plane crash kills 15 people, including congressman
- Diogenes Quintero was a renowned human rights defender in the troubled border region with Venezuela
- The aircraft’s final contact with air traffic control came minutes after takeoff, state-owned airline says
BOGOTA: A small plane crashed Wednesday in a rural area of Norte de Santander province in northeast Colombia, killing all 15 people on board including a member of congress, authorities said.
Satena, the state-owned airline that operated the flight, said local officials in the community of Curasica notified authorities about where the plane had gone down and a rescue team was deployed to “assess the condition of the passengers.”
Colombia’s Transportation Ministry later released a statement saying that “once the aircraft was located on site, authorities regrettably confirmed that there were no survivors.”
The aircraft, which has a registration number of HK4709, took off at 11:42 a.m. local time from the airport in Cucuta, the department’s capital, bound for Ocana, a municipality surrounded by mountains, on a flight that typically lasts about 40 minutes.
The aircraft’s final contact with air traffic control came minutes after takeoff, according to a statement released by Satena.
Officials did not provide a cause for the crash, but said there would be an investigation.
The small plane was carrying two crew members and 13 passengers, including Diogenes Quintero, 36, a member of the House of Representatives for Catatumbo, the airline said. Carlos Salcedo, a social leader who was running for Congress, was also among the victims.
Quintero was a renowned human rights defender in the troubled border region with Venezuela, where he was from and where the accident occurred.
A lawyer by profession, he was elected in 2022 as one of 16 representatives in the lower chamber to represent the more than 9 million victims of Colombia’s decades-long armed conflict. The seats were created as part of a landmark 2016 peace agreement between the Colombian government and the country’s largest guerrilla group known as the FARC.
His party, the U Party, expressed their remorse for his death and said he was “a leader committed to his region, with a firm vocation for service.”
Colombian President Gustavo Petro said via social media: “I am deeply saddened by these deaths. My heartfelt condolences to their families. May they rest in peace.”
Satena, the state-owned airline that operated the flight, said local officials in the community of Curasica notified authorities about where the plane had gone down and a rescue team was deployed to “assess the condition of the passengers.”
Colombia’s Transportation Ministry later released a statement saying that “once the aircraft was located on site, authorities regrettably confirmed that there were no survivors.”
The aircraft, which has a registration number of HK4709, took off at 11:42 a.m. local time from the airport in Cucuta, the department’s capital, bound for Ocana, a municipality surrounded by mountains, on a flight that typically lasts about 40 minutes.
The aircraft’s final contact with air traffic control came minutes after takeoff, according to a statement released by Satena.
Officials did not provide a cause for the crash, but said there would be an investigation.
The small plane was carrying two crew members and 13 passengers, including Diogenes Quintero, 36, a member of the House of Representatives for Catatumbo, the airline said. Carlos Salcedo, a social leader who was running for Congress, was also among the victims.
Quintero was a renowned human rights defender in the troubled border region with Venezuela, where he was from and where the accident occurred.
A lawyer by profession, he was elected in 2022 as one of 16 representatives in the lower chamber to represent the more than 9 million victims of Colombia’s decades-long armed conflict. The seats were created as part of a landmark 2016 peace agreement between the Colombian government and the country’s largest guerrilla group known as the FARC.
His party, the U Party, expressed their remorse for his death and said he was “a leader committed to his region, with a firm vocation for service.”
Colombian President Gustavo Petro said via social media: “I am deeply saddened by these deaths. My heartfelt condolences to their families. May they rest in peace.”
Latest updates
© 2026 SAUDI RESEARCH & PUBLISHING COMPANY, All Rights Reserved And subject to Terms of Use Agreement.