KABUL // The head of the Taliban-allied Haqqani network has ruled out any involvement in a wave of deadly bombings in Kabul, reiterating the group’s denial as it faces widespread condemnation.
The Afghan government has blamed the Haqqani network for a catastrophic lorry bombing in Kabul's diplomatic quarter on May 31, the deadliest in the Afghan capital since 2001 which killed more than 150 people.
The Taliban disavowed any responsibility soon after the explosion, with Taliban deputy leader Sirajuddin Haqqani repeating the denial in an audio message posted on the group’s website on Sunday.
“We have already condemned the [attacks]. The Islamic Emirate [Taliban] is not behind them,” he said.
“The enemy wants to defame Mujahideen and create a distance between the nation and Mujahideen.”
The bombing triggered angry protests and street clashes in Kabul on June 2, prompting police to respond with live rounds that left at least four people dead.
A day later, at least seven people were killed when suicide bombers tore through a row of mourners who were attending the funeral of one of the protesters.
The statements ruling out any Taliban hand in the bombings have fallen on sceptical ears in Kabul.
“Despite the Taliban’s categorical denial, the attack bears all the hallmarks of the movement,” Borhan Osman of the Afghanistan Analysts Network wrote in a recent assessment of the May 31 bombing.
“The movement’s operational capacity and logistical access to plan and execute such a bombing is beyond question.”
Since the Kabul lorry bombing, protesters have set up sit-in camps in at least six locations around the capital, including one near the bombing site, demanding the resignation of president Ashraf Ghani’s government.
In an apparent effort to appease the protesters, the Afghan government on Sunday sacked two top security officials including Kabul police chief over the killing of demonstrators on June 2.
Separately, an Afghan father and his two young children were killed on Monday when US troops opened fire after their convoy hit a roadside bomb, local authorities said.
The civilian and his sons, aged seven and 10, died near their home in the eastern province of Nangarhar, where US forces are conducting joint operations against ISIL militants.
Claims of civilian casualties remain a contentious issue in the war against insurgents in Afghanistan, as president Donald Trump mulls sending more troops into the lengthy conflict.
“A roadside bomb hit a foreign forces convoy in Ghani Khail district this morning,” said provincial spokesman Attaullah Khogyani.
“The troops then opened fire and killed three civilians nearby, a father and his two sons.”
The US military confirmed they opened fire in “self defence” but said they had so far not received any official allegations of civilian casualties.
* Agence France-Presse
