The security services formed by the radical Taliban movement (banned in the Russian Federation) that seized power in Afghanistan will take more serious measures to ensure the security of the Russian embassy in Kabul, the foreign ministry of the interim Taliban government said on Monday.
"Our security services have launched a thorough investigation into the attack and will take more serious steps to [ensure] the security of the [Russian] embassy so that such potential threats do not interfere with the work of the diplomatic mission," the ministry said in a statement posted Monday on its official website following the explosion outside the consular section of the Russian embassy.
"We have close relations with Russia, we will not allow intrigues of enemies to negatively affect relations between our two countries," the ministry added. The statement stressed that the Afghan authorities "strongly condemn" the terrorist attack and express their deep condolences to the Russian government and people, as well as to the families of the deceased.
Earlier on Monday, the Russian foreign ministry said that at 10:50 am Kabul time, an unidentified militant detonated an explosive device very close to the entrance to the consular section of the Russian embassy in Kabul, killing two members of the diplomatic mission. The ministry noted that the embassy is in close contact with the special services of Afghanistan.
According to Al Jazeera, at least eight people were killed in the blast, and at least 15 more were wounded. According to Al-Arabiya, the explosion was carried out by a suicide bomber, who approached the gates of the Russian diplomatic mission and was shot dead by the Taliban. The Afghan newspaper Hasht-e Subh specified that at the time of the explosion there were Afghans (mostly students) outside the Russian embassy who had applied to its consular department for Russian visas.
GSV "Russia - Islamic world"
Photo: ICMA Photos/Creative Commons 2.0
Based on materials from TASS