Taliban bomber in Kabul

This item appears on page 20 of the June 2016 issue.

In one of the deadliest attacks to take place in Kabul, Afghanistan, in several years, at least 64 people were killed and 347 injured on April 19 when an explosives-filled truck was detonated by a suicide bomber in a parking lot near a governmental building in the Pul-e-Mahmud neighborhood. At least one more man then began a gun battle with security forces and was killed. The Taliban, an Islamic fundamentalist movement, claimed responsibility for the attacks.

Most of the victims were civilians. The neighborhood of homes, businesses and schools is near military compounds, the Ministry of Defense and the presidential palace. The blast, during morning rush hour, shattered windows up to a mile away.