Afghan hotel complex blast kills 2
Two wounded in second Kabul attack in less than a month that destroys several shops
Kabul: A suicide bomber blew himself up at the entrance of a Kabul shopping and hotel complex yesterday, killing two security guards in the second attack in less than a month to hit the heavily secured Afghan capital.
The Ministry of Interior said the bomber detonated his explosives at the gates of the Kabul City Centre shopping mall, which also houses the four-star Safi Landmark hotel. Two people were wounded in the blast.
"I was just outside my restaurant and suddenly I heard a huge explosion," said Ahmad Shah, 23, who works in a small eatery near the Safi Landmark. "I saw a large fire right at the gate of the City Centre."
The building was surrounded by hundreds of Afghan security forces. The blast destroyed the guarded entrance to the building and blew out windows. Several shops nearby were also damaged.
Severed body parts could be seen on the ground near the blast site.
Claiming responsibility
A spokesman for the Taliban, Zabiullah Mujahid, claimed responsibility for the attack in a mobile phone text message sent to reporters. Government officials, businessmen and foreigners regularly hold meetings at the Safi Landmark.
The Safi was heavily damaged a year ago when suicide attackers struck two residential hotels nearby, killing 20 people, including nine foreigners. After that attack, shops at the centre, which sell jewelry, electronics and clothing, were shuttered for months.
City Centre is Kabul's first Western-style shopping mall, and is one of the biggest in the capital. Shopkeepers nearby said yesterday's damage appeared to be confined to the guarded entrance area, which was fortified shortly after last year's attack.
President Hamid Karzai condemned the bombing, which he said took aim at civilians.
"Targeting a non-military location shows how desperate and hopeless the enemies of Afghanistan have become," Karzai said in a statement.
It was the first bombing in the capital since January 28 when a suicide attacker blew himself up at an upscale Kabul supermarket, killing eight people.
Elsewhere in Afghanistan, Nato said a homemade bomb killed a coalition service member in the south of the country.
