Explosion rocks Kabul city on first day of the new year

An explosion shook central Kabul Friday, part of a deadly attack on a restaurant popular with expats and wealthy Afghans, officials said.

The security forces have cordoned off the area as a precautionary measure and arrested a male suspect after the attack.

The latest in a series of suicide bombings in Kabul targeted “Le Jardin”, one of a small number of restaurants in the city still frequented by foreigners.

The same official said the blast was apparently caused by a vehicle bomb.

Meanwhile in Islamabad, Pakistan’s Defence Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif told the Senate that the first round of quadrilateral meeting of Pakistan, Afghanistan, United States and China will take place in Islamabad on January 16.

Such restaurants have seen their business drop in recent years as the city’s security deteriorates, the economy remains stagnant and many foreigners have left the country.

Shopkeeper Ahmed Massoud’s cousin, a guard at the Afghan-owned restaurant, was killed as the bomber detonated his suicide vest when he stopped to frisk him.

The Taliban quickly claimed responsibility and said one of their suicide bombers had carried out the attack.

The restaurant is situated in an area that has a lot of guest houses in which foreigners live, Sediqqi said.

Of course, there are no active peace negotiations in Afghanistan at any rate, with the Taliban withdrawing after the death of their founder Mullah Omar.

Meanwhile, the Afghan government is pushing for peace talks with the Taliban militant group, which made surprising gains in 2015.

Currently, Afghan forces are fighting to push back Taliban insurgents who seized large areas of the key opium-rich district of Sangin in the southern province of Helmand.