Officials report that a suicide bomber killed at least 20 people and wounded another 29 after targeting a police base in the Afghan capital of Kabul on Monday. Gen. Mohammad Ayub Salangi, Afghanistan's deputy interior minister, said the incident occurred Monday afternoon near Deh Mazang Square when the bomber joined a line of people waiting for a security check near the gate of the National Civil Order Police, detonating the explosives after being spotted near the gate, according to the New York Times.
Initial reports suggested that the majority of those killed and wounded were civilians.
"Unfortunately the majority of the killed and wounded are civilians," Kabul police spokesman Basir Mujahid said, adding that two police officers were among the dead and a third was wounded, according to the Associated Press.
However more recent reports suggest that most of those killed and injured were actually police officers.
Taliban spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid, claimed responsibility for the attack on behalf of the terrorist group on Twitter, saying the attacker targeted the facility as a large amount of police officers were leaving.
The Taliban have stepped up attacks in recent months and their most recent attacks come as Afghanistan, Pakistan, China and the U.S. are poised to hold a third round of talks in Islamabad on Saturday aimed at reviving Taliban peace talks.
With that in mind, some believe the attacks are aimed at destabilizing the talks, as may be evidenced in President Ashraf Ghani's condemnation of the incident, according to BBC.
"Such acts are unforgivable crimes against civilians," he was quoted saying. "The government will never have talks with those groups who kill innocent civilians, women and children. Instead the Afghan security forces will mobilize in their fight against them."
On the other hand, others believe their recent string of attacks is an attempt to gain leverage when they rejoin the talks.
