Three suicide attacks rocked the capital city of Kabul, Afghanistan on Friday killing at least 51 people and injuring hundreds of others. Another 29 members of a pro-government militia died in a separate attack on Saturday in the northern province of Kunduz. At least five people died on Monday in an attack near the Kabul Airport. It was the bloodiest 72 hours in Afghanistan in years.
The confirmed death of Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar and the announcement that Mullah Akhtar Mansour will replace him has caused unrest in the Islamic fundamentalist group-raising questions about the direction it will take next. It comes as tentative peace talks between the Taliban and Afghan government were just beginning to raise hopes that there could be an end in sight to Afghanistan’s 13-year civil war.
Now, those talks are not only on hold, the Afghan people have endured another wave of suicide bombings, killing dozens and leaving hundreds more wounded. CCTV’s Natalie Carney provided an update:
The Heat spoke to a panel of experts about the situation:
- Afghan diplomat and the senior advisor to Afghanistan’s Chief Executive Officer Abdullah Abdullah, Omar Samad in Kabul.
- From New York, Anand Gopal, one of a few Western journalists to have embedded with the Taliban.
- Senior Fellow at the Shanghai Institutes for International Studies, Shao Yuqun, from Shanghai.
- Andrew Small, a fellow with the Asia Program at the German Marshall Fund of the United States.