KABUL: First Afghan Vice President Amrullah Saleh narrowly escaped a roadside bomb attack in central Kabul on Wednesday that killed 10 people.
The attack is being seen as “another attempt to assassinate the second most powerful man in the country,” officials told Arab News.
In a video shared widely on social media after the incident, Saleh, a former head of the Afghan intelligence services, described the blast as “horrible.”
“Several of my bodyguards were injured, and I suffered minor injuries on my hand and a slight burn on the face,” he said.
Tariq Aryan, a spokesman for the Interior Ministry, said: “Initial investigations show that explosives were hidden in a cart and detonated when the convoy of the first VP was passing. At least 10 people were killed, 15 wounded.”
No group has claimed responsibility for the attack with the Taliban denying involvement in a brief statement released on Wednesday.
A long-time critic of Pakistan and the Taliban, Saleh, 49, was on his way to work when his convoy was attacked.
The blast damaged his armored vehicle as well as several other cars, shops and nearby buildings.
It follows a similar incident last year when a group of heavily armed men, including suicide bombers, stormed Saleh’s office as he returned from a campaign rally for the presidential election. Almost 30 people, including several bodyguards and supporters, died in the attack.
The latest attack comes amid efforts to kick-start long-awaited peace talks between the Afghan government and the Taliban in Doha in a bid to end Afghanistan’s protracted war and ensure the complete withdrawal of US-led foreign troops from the country by next spring.
Saleh was among government officials who had opposed the release of 5,000 Taliban prisoners as part of an exchange deal with the Afghan government, claiming that the insurgent group “cannot be trusted.”
In a recent interview with a local TV channel, he said that he “cannot work with the Taliban in a personal capacity in the future.”
Saleh also expressed dissatisfaction at Washington’s handling of the February talks with the Taliban, claiming that despite US promises to pull out of Afghanistan, “it will stay in the country because of its interests.”
Foreign Minister Haneef Atmar condemned Wednesday’s attack, saying that “the enemies of the country cannot prevent the process of peace.”
The EU in Afghanistan described the attack as a “desperate act by those who seek to spoil peace efforts.”
While some suspect the Taliban and Daesh of being involved in the attack, experts say the incident must be investigated before any group is blamed.
“Saleh has many adversaries and collaboration among his enemies cannot be discounted,” Zabihullah Pakteen, an analyst and former journalist, told Arab News.
His adversaries include the Jamiat-e-Islami faction in which he was once active.
The group played a key role in toppling the Taliban government during a US-led invasion in 2001, however Saleh quit 10 years ago to set up his own party, Afghanistan’s Green Trend.