Blast hits Kabul as US defence chief visits

At least nine people have been killed in a suicide bombing outside the Afghan defence ministry in Kabul as US Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel visits the country, officials have said.
Hagel was nowhere near the explosion on Saturday, said a spokesman for Afghanistan’s NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF). A US defence official said Hagel was in a safe location at an ISAF facility.
A police officer said all the dead were civilians and that “two or three” ministry personnel were among the injured in Saturday’s blast.
Officials said an attacker riding a bicycle detonated explosives near the main entrance to the ministry.
“A suicide attacker has detonated himself within 30 metres of the defence ministry gate,” ministry spokesman Zahir Azimi said.
Roads around the ministry building, which is near the presidential palace, were closed as emergency officials cleared the area of debris and washed blood from the street. A wall surrounding the ministry was pockmarked with shrapnel.
The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack.
“This was not a direct attack to target him [Hagel] but we want to send a message that we are always capable of hitting Kabul even when the top US defence official is there,” Zabiullah Mujahid told the AFP news agency by telephone.
Elsewhere in the country, at least nine people – eight of them civilians and one a policeman – were killed in a suicide bombing in Khost city.

Troop withdrawal
Hagel arrived in Kabul on Friday for his first trip abroad after being sworn in last month.
He was due to meet US commanders and Afghan President Hamid Karzai. He said he would also make his own assessment about the United States’ longest war as it enters its final stretch.
Hagel’s visit comes after Karzai has taken steps to limit US military activities.
“I need to better understand what’s going on,” he said.
The visit is Hagel’s first trip to Afghanistan since a mid-2008 visit with then-senator Barack Obama during Obama’s campaign for presidency.
Hagel, an early Republican critic of the Iraq war, will help determine how large a residual mission will be kept in Afghanistan once NATO troops concludes its combat mission at the end of next year.
James Mattis, the outgoing head of the US military’s Central Command, said on Tuesday that he recommended keeping 13,600 American troops, which is a higher number than considered by the White House and NATO defence chiefs.
“I think it is important [that] General Mattis – all of our commanders – have an opportunity for their input. The president wants that, needs that, welcomes that,” said Hagel, adding that the president had not made a final decision.
“If you look at the role that we’ve had for the past 12 years as the lead combatant in Afghanistan, that’s a totally different role than what we’re transitioning into,” he said, discussing the role of the US mission after Afghans take charge of their security.
“I think we are transitioning in a way that give the Afghan people a very hopeful future.”
Obama announced the withdrawal of 34,000 US troops by early 2014.

Source: Al Jazeera