Kabul Vice-Governor dies in attack

The assassination of the deputy governor of Kabul, Mahbubullah Muhibbi, took place early in the morning on his way to work. The limpet bomb attached to his vehicle also left two security guards who were travelling with him injured. The explosion took place in PD 9 in the Afghan capital.

There has not yet been any claim to responsibility for the attack, which comes on top of another one that also took place today in the western province of Ghot, where another member of the provincial council is reported to have died and the driver and another council member were injured.

Despite the progress made in the peace agreements between the Afghan government and the Taliban, attacks in the country have intensified in recent months, in many cases targeting political and judicial authorities, as well as journalists, most recently last week, and human rights activists. To these murders must be added the attack on Kabul University at the beginning of November, which left more than 20 people dead.

The peace talks between the two parties under way in the Qatari capital, Doha, are suspended until January. The Afghan president requested yesterday that these meetings be moved to Afghanistan. The Afghan Security Adviser, Hamdullah Mohib, said that this would allow the negotiators to immerse themselves in the reality of the country when it comes to making progress on a roadmap for the resolution of the conflict.

Afghanistan continues to be the country that suffers most from terrorism, accounting for almost half of all deaths worldwide. During 2019, almost 5,800 people have died due to terrorist attacks in the country. This is five times the number of deaths in Nigeria, the second highest number of deaths due to terrorism in 2019.

Despite the peace process with the United States at the beginning of the year and the roadmap being negotiated with the Afghan authorities, the fact that the Taliban have not accepted a ceasefire keeps the violence in the country at too high a level.