By Radio Free Afghanistan
February 10, 2021
KABUL – Afghan officials say a district police chief and his bodyguards were killed after multiple bomb blasts rocked Kabul early on February 10.
One of the attacks struck a police car in a western Kabul neighborhood, killing the city’s Police District 5 chief and his three bodyguards, a police source told RFE/RL.
No one immediately claimed responsibility for the blasts, but First Vice President Amrullah Saleh blamed the Taliban for the killing of the local police chief, named Mohammadzai Zai Kochi.
Kabul police spokesman Ferdaws Faramarz said four civilians were wounded in another blast in the Afghan capital.
There were no casualties reported in a third blast that targeted a police vehicle in another part of the city.
All three explosions were reportedly caused by so-called sticky bombs, explosive devices attached to vehicles that are remotely detonated or set off by timers.
The bombings follow a pattern of attacks during morning rush-hour traffic targeting government officials, politicians, journalists, and activists as peace negotiations in Qatar between the Taliban and the Afghan government have stalled.
The local affiliate of the Islamic State extremist group has claimed responsibility for some of the attacks, but many have gone unclaimed.
Afghan and U.S. officials have blamed the Taliban for the wave of violence, although the militant group has rejected the charge.
On February 9, unidentified gunmenshot dead four government employees in an ambush in Kabul that no one has so far claimed responsibility for.
With reporting by AP