A top Russian diplomat and security guard are among at least six killed by a suicide bomber outside the Russian embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan, according to Russian and Afghan officials.
The explosion occurred Monday when the Russian diplomat went out to a gathered crowd to announce candidates for a visa, according to RIA Novosti. Citing Russian media, the Washington Post identified the two Russians dead as diplomat Mikhail Shakh and a security guard. The remaining casualties were gathered Afghan civilians. The suicide bomber was discovered and engaged by Taliban police before he could get closer to the crowd, but the shooting set off his suicide vest, authorities said.
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“At around 11:00, a suicide bomber attempted to detonate himself in the crowd of the Russian Embassy in the seventh district of Kabul, but before reaching his target, the security forces targeted him, causing the explosion,” Taliban Kabul Police spokesman Khalid Zadran wrote on Twitter.
نن غرمه مهال شاوخوا ۱۱ بجې د کابل ښار اوومې حوزې اړوند د روسیې سفارت سره نږدې یو ځانمرګي بریدګر چې غوښتل یې دغلته په ګڼه ګوڼه کې ځان ته چاودنه ورکړي، خو خپلې موخې ته له رسېدو مخکې امنیتي ځواکونو په نښه کړی چې له امله یې چاودنه رامنځ ته شوې.
۱/۲— Khalid Zadran (@khalidzadran01) September 5, 2022
Russia’s Foreign Ministry confirmed the account of events in its own statement, according to TASS, and announced it is working closely with Afghanistan’s security services in the investigation of the attack.
No group has claimed responsibility for the attack. However, the Taliban’s rival Islamic State’s Afghan branch has overseen an intensifying wave of suicide bombings targeting Taliban and civilian targets.
Citing security sources, Al Jazeera put the death toll higher, with at least eight deaths.
“It is very unexpected because the security officials of Kabul believe the security around Kabul is very tight. And these kind of places like embassies are well protected,” Kabul-based reporter Najib Lalzoy told Al Jazeera.
In talks with Tajik diplomats in Moscow, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov observed a moment of silence.
“Speaking about the situation in the region, the terrorist threat hasn’t dissipated, including from Afghanistan. … And this morning … there was a terrorist attack. An unknown militant used an explosive device near the entrance to the consulate of our embassy [in Kabul]. Two of our comrades died,” he said, reported Russia Today. “Let’s hope that those who perpetrated that attack, those who executed this attack, will be held responsible in the nearest future.”
The Taliban’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman expressed his determination that it would not let the attack harm relations with Russia.
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“[The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan] has close relations with the Russian Federation & will not allow the enemies to sabotage relations between both countries with such negative actions,” Abdul Qahar Balkhi tweeted.
IEA has close relations with the Russian Federation & will not allow the enemies to sabotage relations between both countries with such negative actions.
— Abdul Qahar Balkhi (@QaharBalkhi) September 5, 2022
Russia is one of the few countries to maintain diplomatic relations with the Taliban government in Afghanistan despite not formally recognizing it and holding it to be a banned terrorist group in Russia, according to the Washington Post. It has increasingly warmed relations with the group following the war in Ukraine, hosting several diplomatic delegations in Russia, including one to discuss Afghanistan’s future at the St. Petersburg International Economic Summit, the so-called Russian Davos, in June.
