Waves of deadly bomb attacks shatter Afghans' hope for peace

As if to give a clear signal that the insurgent Taliban under a new leadership is not about to sue for peace with the Kabul government, the Afghan capital was rocked by three deadly bomb attacks on Friday killing scores and injuring hundreds.

The first attack occurred Friday night when an explosive-laden truck rammed into the two-storey market in Shah Shahid locality in the eastern part of Kabul City, killing 15 people and injuring nearly 400 others, all civilians including women and children.

This was the largest and the most destructive blast that rocked the fortified Afghan capital since the collapse of Taliban regime in late 2001 and the first bombing in Kabul City since the confirmation of the death of Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar on July 30. Omar was succeeded by Mullah Akhtar Mohammad Mansoor who vowed to continue its terror attacks.

Aside from casualties, the Friday bomb attacks also resulted in damage to properties worth millions of U.S. dollars. "Millions of dollars have been turned to ashes here in this market, I have lost whatever I had,"Kamal, a shop owner, told Xinhua.

Kamal, however, was happy that no member his family member was hurt because the deadly blast occurred in midnight and none of his sons were with him in the shop. "This country has no future, because indiscriminate killing of people and destruction of public and private assets are normal occurrences here," said Mohammad Nasir, another shopkeeper.

Nasir said that neither the government nor the Taliban are serious in working for peace."Both sides are just deceiving the people, otherwise there would have been peace a long time ago,"he said.

But Nasir blamed the government more for not doing enough to solve the problem of terrorism and violence, saying that government security forces were unable to prevent the terrorists from bringing into the heart of Kabul the explosive-laden truck.

Sohrab, another Kabul resident, lost five family members in the bomb attack, including his father.

The deadly bomb blast destroyed scores of houses and shops within a radius of some 500 meters. The place was completely gutted.

Some 19 hours after the explosion of the bomb-laden truck, there was a second suicide bombing that targeted the Police Academy in the western edge of Kabul City leaving scores of injured and missing. "My young son left home at 6:30 p.m. for the police academy but his fate is uncertain,"a couple said while waiting for word of their son at the entrance of the police academy.

Three hours later at 10:00 p.m. local time, the third suicide bombing followed by gunshots rocked Qasaba locality in the northern part of Kabul city leaving at least three people, including an American, dead, according to a statement of the NATO- led Resolute Support (RS) mission released here Saturday.

Afghan officials have yet to issue an official statement on the number of casualties in the suicide bombings in Qasaba and Police Academy.

Mohammad Azam, a city resident, said that it is obvious that the government did not want to admit its failure to secure the police academy and Qasaba and that could be the reason why they did not issue any statement on the attacks. "From now on, I would try my best to convince my father to sell our house in the city and live in our village where it would be more peaceful,"Azam, 22, told Xinhua.