Interior Affairs Minister Massoud Andarabi on Tuesday while speaking to the Afghan senate about the security situation in the country and particularly in Kabul, said that the Taliban is behind the “targeted killings.”
“The Taliban had major plans to overrun more areas in the provinces including Helmand, but they were prevented, causing the group to focus on targeted killings in Kabul,” Andarabi said.
He believes that attacks in the country have increased in Afghanistan since the US and Taliban signed the peace agreement in February this year in Doha.
“The Taliban is seeking leverage in the peace efforts by putting pressure on the government with IED bombings in Kabul and by launching attacks in districts,” he further said.
“The people who were arrested over the targeted killings have confessed that a group was created by the Taliban under the name of 'Obaida' in Logar province to target government employees, journalists and civil society activists to raise the people’s voice against the government,” according to Andarabi.
The National Directorate of Security (NDS) Chief Gen. Zia Saraj addressed the Senate also, saying that "over 18,200" insurgent attacks have occurred in the last 10 months, "99% of them by the Taliban."
“The Daesh group was only responsible for one percent of the attacks,” he said.
6,100 people have been arrested in the country and“3,600 of them were involved in the insurgency activities.”
“70 of these arrested people was involved in target killings while seven others were wanted to carry out suicide attacks,” he added.
Peace talks
On Monday, the leadership committee of the High Council for National Reconciliation in a two-day session decided to form a technical group for consultations with the negotiating team of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan during the negotiations that are expected to resume on Jan. 5.
The Afghan government has pledged that the second round of the talks will be held on January 5, 2021, in Qatar.
The two-day session was also held to determine the stance of the negotiating team in the talks and its authority in the negotiations.
The Afghan government says that ceasefire is a priority for the Afghan Republic’s negotiating team, but the Taliban has said that ceasefire will be ensured after the agreement on the details of an Islamic system.
The Afghan negotiators had a closed-door meeting with senators for several hours on Monday, according to senators.
Increase of attacks in Kabul
On Tuesday, a roadside mine exploded in in Aab Rasani area in PD5 of Kabul city but there were no casualties, according to the Kabul police.
On Monday morning an IED exploded on a security forces vehicle in Kolola Poshta area in PD4 of Kabul city. Kabul police said that the blast had no casualties.
But the eyewitness said that the three people were wounded in the blast.
In the afternoon, an explosion targeted the employees of the National Statistics and Information Authority in Guzargah area in Kabul's PD7.
Kabul police said that one civilian was killed and five others were wounded in the explosion. Police said the bomb was placed on a bicycle.
It was the second explosion of the day in Kabul.
No group claimed the blast.
TOLOnews findings show that 24 people have been killed and about 80 others have been wounded in security incidents in Kabul over the last 12 days.
Kabul has witnessed 13 security incidents in the past 12 days, including suicide attacks, car bomb attacks, magnetic IED blasts and targeted killings.
As security incidents are on the rise in Kabul, First Vice President Amrullah Saleh on Monday that the Presidential Palace will double the number of police in the city.
Amrullah Saleh said that a study showed that Kabul has a low number of police for a city with such a large population.
He also mentioned that Kabul mountain’s security outposts will be handed over from the police to the army.
Targeted killings
Five journalists and two civil society activists have been killed in various incidents since November 7.
On Monday, President Ashraf Ghani in a cabinet meeting said that the attacks on journalists and civil society activists are "an attack on a generation" and an attempt to destabilize the country and demoralize the new generation.
“Recent terrorist attacks on media, civil society and political activists and other members of our citizenry are attacks on a generation and on all the values of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan,” Ghani said. “The motive (behind the attacks) is to remove stability, trust and to create helplessness among the new generation, particularly women in Afghanistan.”