Suicide bombing in Kabul has killed between five and twenty people.

 

Taliban fighters near the site of the bombing. BBC/Getty.

ISIS has taken credit for a suicide bombing that killed between five and twenty people. BBC. Taliban sources disagree on how many deaths have happened with some saying only five died while others saying twenty did. The attack occurred outside of Afghanistan's Foreign Ministry in Kabul. The bomber had tried to enter the building but was unable to get inside. No foreign government officials were in the Ministry during the attack. ISIS has conducted a string of attacks in Kabul with foreign governments being a major target. 

My Comment:

Though I am of course disturbed by this attack, I do have to say that it somewhat satisfying to see the Taliban on the other side of a violent insurgency. The Taliban used to use the same tactics against US forces in Afghanistan and now ISIS is giving them a taste of their own medicine. It's unfortunate though that the primary targets appear to be random civilians. 

The casualty rate is probably higher than the upper estimate that the Taliban has given. This bombing was in a populated area and many of the injured could die due to the poor medical care available in Afghanistan after the fall of the former government. 

This attack may have been targeting foreign governments as well. There was a rumor that China had sent delegates to the foreign ministry at the time of the attack. Those rumors turned out to be false, but perhaps that explains the timing of the attacks? Killing a bunch of Chinese diplomats would be a coup for the Taliban. 

Still, this attack seems like a partial failure to me. They were not able to get into the building and were turned away at the door. They only killed civilians and were not able to kill any diplomats. They did cause quite a few deaths but not any military officials or diplomats. 

As for ISIS they seem to be picking up the pace of attacks in Afghanistan. ISIS has been able to launch quite a few attacks recently, mostly in Kabul. They are making a comeback there and it's pretty easy to see why. The Taliban is not as effective at fighting them as the United States was. The Afghans no longer have America's intelligence assets or the ability to launch airstrikes. They can still fight and kill ISIS but they don't have the tech advantage the US had. 

Still, I am not too worried about ISIS taking over the country or using it as a base to attack western countries. The Taliban has a pretty strong grip on Afghanistan and though ISIS will be hard to route out I don't think they are strong enough to beat the Taliban. They are powerful enough to make things miserable for the Taliban but that's about it.