Salahuddin Rabbani
RFE/RL’s Radio Free Afghanistan
June 5, 2017
Afghan Foreign Minister Salahuddin Rabbani has called for the dismissal of the country’s top security chiefs after a wave of deadly attacks in the capital, Kabul.
Rabbani, speaking at a press conference in Kabul on June 5, said the attacks in the past week that killed or wounded over 600 people in the city had raised questions about the “security institutions and their abilities.”
A deadly bombing in Kabul on May 31 killed at least 90 people and wounded more than 460, at least five people were killed on June 2 in deadly clashes between police and protesters, and at least seven were killed and around 100 injured after three suicide bombers detonated their explosives at a funeral on June 3.
Rabbani, who heads the mainly ethnic-Tajik Jamiat-e Islami political group, attended the funeral but escaped unhurt. He suggested elements in the government were behind the attack.
Rabbani specifically called for the dismissals of National Security Advisor Hanif Atmar, Interior Minister General Taj Mohammad Jahid, Defense Minister Tariq Shah Bahrami, and intelligence chief Masoom Stanekzai.
The national unity government led by Ghani and Abdullah was brokered by Washington after the disputed election of 2014.
With reporting by Tolo News
Copyright (c) 2017. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave NW, Ste 400, Washington DC 20036.
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