On the morning of July 31 in the western province of Afghanistan, called Farhad, a civilian bus carrying mostly women and children on the Herat - Helmand route was blown up, apparently by a bomb, laid down at the side of the road.
As a result of the explosion, at least 11 people died and from 30 to 40 people were injured, and in the absolute majority of them were women and children. In connection with the incident, a spokesman for the police of the province stated that the charge was laid by militants of the Taliban movement (prohibited in the Russian Federation) with the aim of attacking a detachment of security forces, but, for unclear reasons, a civilian bus was destroyed by this charge ...
As is known, the Taliban have been quite active in this province in recent years. So, this spring, the detachments of this Islamist group even tried to seize the capital of this region, as well as destroy the irrigation dams.
Abduction by militants of people from cars
On the same day, closer to noon, in the Afghan province of Pakhtia, located in the south-east of the country, the same Taliban militants blocked the strategic Kabul-Gardez highway in the Hafukel region, and, stopping a couple of cars of Toyota Corolla and Mercedes-Benz brands and Mazda, were able to kidnap 22 civilians who were passengers of the above vehicles.
According to Reza Muhammad Manduzai, chief of the Paktiya Provincial Police, the security forces were able to save 6 people (mostly women) from captivity, 1 people managed to escape on their own, and all possible efforts were made to rescue the rest. Most of the captives are men from wealthy families, whom the militants kidnap, usually for ransom.
However, yesterday’s Islamist attack on a number of institutions in the city of Jalalabad, the capital of the eastern Afghan province of Nangarhar, was most famous in the world media. Early in the morning of Tuesday, several armed men shouting Islamist slogans attacked the Refugees and Repatriates Department, where at that moment, apart from the Afghan employees, was a group of international experts.
In the Islamist attack zone in Jalalabad
While attempting to break into the building, one fighter blew himself up right at the entrance, while the other two were able to break into a government office. According to Zmarari Zabiullah, a member of the advisory council on irrigation of Nangarhar province, a number of employees and visitors of the Refugee Directorate were taken hostage. However, in the end, after a long and long skirmish during 5 hours, both of the remaining militants were eliminated.
However, it was not possible to avoid casualties during the operation to free the hostages: in total, as a result of the attack, from 6 to 15 people died, including militants, and about 14-15 people were injured.
However, the actions of jihadists in Afghanistan did not end there. At about the same time as the militants attacked the Refugees Directorate, two armed Islamists attacked a midwifery school in the same center of Jalalabad.
The designation of Jalalabad on the map of Afghanistan
True, a couple of policemen who were on duty at the entrance, even at the cost of their own death, were able to give a temporary rebuff to the attackers, detaining them.
Despite the fact that the jihadists still managed to seize the building and take hostage about 70 students and their teachers, they did not have time and could not put forward adequate conditions, since the anti-terrorist units arrived very quickly. In the ensuing unexpected assault, both militants were eliminated, and all the hostages of the obstetric school were freed after 7 hours of terrible waiting.
According to the statements of the Islamist Taliban movement, they are not involved in the last two attacks, and the responsibility for this allegedly lies with the Islamic State group (banned in the Russian Federation), whose few individual units are still based in Afghanistan.