Kabul: A series of blasts in Afghanistan’s Jalalabad and the country’s capital, Kabul, on Saturday killed at least three people and injured 20. Three explosions occurred in Jalalabad, and a high-ranking Taliban commander is claimed to be among the dead. Local media says that the blast occurred in an area dominated by the Haqqani network, which has the most significant stake in the Taliban government. Claims of the Haqqani network being targeted by these explosions that occurred after the Taliban took control of Afghanistan is a clear sign of infighting between factions of the Taliban.
On Saturday, the three IED blasts occurred in Nangarhar province, located in eastern Afghanistan and near the Pakistan border. Local media said that the blasts targeted convoys of vehicles, carrying members of the Taliban travelling at a road in Jalalabad, the capital of Nangarhar province. Three people were killed in the IED blasts at Angor Bagh and the Rokhan Mina area between 10:30 am and 12:30 pm. Also, the explosion near Kabul’s PD13 area wounded two people.
The detailed information on the blasts has not come forth as Afghanistan media is under the control of the Taliban. However, Taliban vehicles were also targeted in the Sherzad and Hesarak districts of Nangarhar province on Friday. The IS-Khorasan had caused explosions in Nangarhar province in the past. So, the IS-K is said to be behind the latest attacks. Nevertheless, the explosions in Kabul and Jalalabad on Saturday are strongly suspected to have been carried out to target the Haqqani network.
Khalil Haqqani of the Haqqani Network is responsible for the security of the capital, Kabul. The Zadran tribe dominates Jalalabad, which was targeted in Saturday’s blasts. The tribe is claimed to be associated with the Haqqani network’s leader Sirajuddin Haqqani. Therefore, the explosions in Kabul and Jalalabad appear to have been carried out to shake up the Haqqani network.
A leading US media outlet claimed that Khalil Haqqani, the senior commander of the Haqqani Network, punched Mullah Baradar, the Taliban’s second-in-command, in a dispute over the formation of the government last week. It led to a shootout between the Baradar group and the Haqqani network, which injured militants of both groups. Although Mullah Baradar was not injured in the shootout, he was enraged after the dispute and left for Kandahar, the US news agency said.
Meanwhile, the disputes between Baradar and Haqqani groups have surfaced in the past few days. In a video released by the Taliban, the group claimed Baradar was alive, and there was no internal conflict. However, it is apparent after the blasts in Jalalabad that the rift within the Taliban is now turning into a conflict. There are signs of this conflict leading to dreadful bloodshed in the future.
Click below to express your thoughts and views on this news:
 |
https://twitter.com/WW3Info |
 |
https://www.facebook.com/WW3Info |
