Kabul // Twenty policemen were killed on Monday when a Taliban suicide bomber struck their base in Kabul.
The attack took place just days before a fresh round of international talks aimed at reviving dialogue with the group.
Scores of people were also wounded as the attacker blew himself up in a queue of police officers waiting to enter the base, leaving several bodies and charred debris strewn around the area.
The carnage marks one of the worst attacks on Afghan forces in recent months, despite a renewed international push to restart formal peace talks which stalled last year.
“As a result of the terrorist attack near the Afghan National Civil Order Police headquarters... 20 people were martyred and 29 others were wounded,” the interior ministry said.
A senior ministry sourcesaid all of those killed were policemen, and at least three critically wounded officers were battling for their lives in hospital.
The health ministry said some of those wounded were hit in the chest by flying shrapnel.
Ambulances rushed to the scene, which was cordoned off by authorities after the bombing that coincides with the Taliban’s unprecedented winter offensive.
The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack, with insurgent spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid claiming on Twitter that up to 40 police were killed and wounded.
“Once again, terrorists have targeted a populated area with no regard for innocent lives,” Nato said in a statement, adding that civilians were among those wounded.
“The Taliban have no plan for the development of Afghanistan. Targeting those who defend their fellow Afghans does not advance the cause of peace.”
The carnage comes just ahead of a third round of four-country “roadmap talks” trying to lay the groundwork for direct dialogue between Kabul and the group.
Delegates from Afghanistan, Pakistan, China and the United States are set to convene in Islamabad on February 6 in a bid to seek a negotiated end to the Taliban insurgency, now in its fifteenth year.
The Taliban have stepped up attacks on government and foreign targets in Afghanistan this winter, when fighting usually abates, underscoring a worsening security situation.
*Agence France-Presse
