Taliban guards* shot the suicide bomber. What is known about the explosion at the Russian embassy in Kabul

At least 25 dead and injured

A source told RIA Novosti that the explosion occurred near Kabul, where the building of the Russian embassy in Afghanistan is located. According to him, it all happened when a Russian diplomat appeared outside the building to announce the names of visa applicants.

“From 15 to 20 people were killed or injured by the explosion,” the source said.

How clarifies Citing a local police spokesperson, Reuters said two people were killed in the incident. In response, the head of the police station where the attack took place, Mavlavi Sabir, did not reveal his identity to the agency, but emphasized that the attacker was shot dead by armed guards when he approached the door.

“The suicide bomber who failed to reach the target was identified and shot dead by the security of the Russian embassy (representatives of the Taliban (a banned organization in Russia)). <...> “There is no information about the victims yet,” he said.

In addition, the authors of the Reuters article noted that Russia is one of the few countries to retain its embassy in Kabul after the Taliban took control of the country more than a year ago. Although Moscow does not formally recognize the Taliban government, it is in talks with Taliban representatives over an agreement to supply gasoline and other goods.

Al Jazeera reported that at least 25 people were killed and injured in the explosion at the Russian embassy.

At Estiqlal hospital in Kabul, RIA Novosti confirmed at least 10 deaths, with eight more victims hospitalized during the attack.

“Eight victims were hospitalized, the others were discharged,” the hospital told the agency.

morning attack

Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs published made a statement on its website stating the time of the attack.

“On September 5, at 10:50 am in Kabul, an unidentified militant detonated an explosive device in the immediate vicinity of the entrance to the consular section of the Russian Embassy in Kabul. “As a result of the attack, two employees of the diplomatic mission lost their lives, while there are victims among Afghan citizens,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

The Foreign Ministry added that the Russian embassy in Kabul “is in close contact with the Afghan security services who are investigating”.

Before the start of negotiations with the Tajik Foreign Minister, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov honored the memory of those who died in the terrorist attack with a minute of silence, the official representative of the ministry, Maria Zakharova, said on his Telegram channel.

“A number of measures were immediately taken to strengthen the protection of the external environment, additional forces of the Taliban officials were included and the capabilities of the Afghanistan intelligence and counterintelligence service were used,” Lavrov said before the meeting. Said.

It also hopes that “the organizers and perpetrators of this terrorist act will be punished as soon as possible”.

Tajik Foreign Minister Sirojiddin Muhriddin expressed his condolences to Lavrov regarding the death of Russian embassy staff in Afghanistan.

“I am confident that these forces organizing this explosion will be found in the near future, and we will take some measures if we succeed, at least collectively,” he said.

Press Secretary of the President of Russia Dmitry Peskov told reporters that this was an act of terrorism, and now the main thing is to get reliable information about what happened to Russian diplomats.

“Of course, we are talking about an absolutely unacceptable act of terrorism. In general, we strongly condemn such a terrorist act, and of course the main thing to do now is to get information from the ground about what happened to our diplomatic representatives. I understand that the information will now be improved, ”the Kremlin spokesman said.