Taliban Militants Bomb Restaurant in Kabul

The powerful explosion shook the Qala-e Fatullah neighborhood and sprayed debris for the length of a football field.

Afghan policemen carry a wounded man at the site of an explosion in Kabul on January 1.

Another fifteen people were injured in the vehicle bomb attack on Le Jardin restaurant, Kabul Criminal Investigation Department head Faraidoon Ubaidi said.

Despite war season having ended in Afghanistan, the Taliban militant group have intensified their attacks against foreign and governmental locations.

The bombings come amid renewed efforts at peace talks.

Le Jardin restaurant, where the attack occurred, is popular among the city’s expatriate community and aid workers, besides Afghan officials.

The Taliban claimed that a suicide attack targeted a “restaurant of foreigners”, but police and hospital officials said the victims, as of late Friday, were all Afghans. “Apparently a restaurant has been attacked”, interior ministry spokesman Sediq Sediqqi told AFP, citing initial information. The target of the attack wasn’t instantly clear.

Officials from Afghanistan, Pakistan, the United States and China are due to meet in Pakistan on January 11 for a meeting aimed at laying the groundwork for talks with the insurgents.

Pakistan-the Taliban’s historic backers-hosted a first round of talks in July but the negotiations stalled when the insurgents belatedly confirmed the death of their longtime leader, Mullah Omar. Another attack a week earlier killed six U.S soldiers patrolling near Bagram air base outside Kabul.

The Taliban, who vowed to safeguard lives of ordinary Afghans before launching their annual summer offensive past year, typically attack places with a high density of civilians.