Kabul police chief escapes suicide blast in his office

A suicide bomber walked into the offices of the Kabul police chief on Sunday and detonated his explosives, killing a senior aide in an attack that highlighted poor security in the Afghan capital. Kabul police chief Zahir Zahir said the attacker had evaded checkpoints at the force’s heavily-guarded headquarters by wearing a police uniform. Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid took to Twitter to claim responsibility for the 9am attack.

I’m fine, but one of my best officers, my chief of staff Yassin Khan, was killed and six were wounded. It was a suicide bomber with police uniform on. As he was stopped trying to enter my room, he detonated his explosives.

Kabul police chief Zahir Zahir

Kabul is regularly hit by Taliban bombings, with the military, police and government officials among those targeted despite heightened security with multiple checkpoints, blast walls and armed guards. Another Taliban bomb exploded earlier on Sunday in Kabul, causing no casualties. In the last major blast in the capital, four Afghan soldiers were killed and around a dozen people wounded when a roadside bomb planted by the insurgents exploded on October 21. NATO troops end their 13-year combat mission in Afghanistan next month, with about 12,500 soldiers due to stay on into next year on a new training and support mission.

Middle East Kabul