Afghanistan presidential palace attacked, eight wounded in rocket strike

Rockets landed in Afghanistan's capital city of Kabul while the country celebrated it's 101st Independence Day on Tuesday, August 18. As per reports, one of the rockets struck the Afghan presidential palace and wounded eight workers. According to reports, a total of 14 mortars were fired and one of them struck the presidential place.

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8 workers injured, 2 critically wounded

According to reports, the rocket attacks began on the morning of August 18 and 17 people were injured in the attack. The rockets were reportedly fired from two moving vehicles in PD16 and PD17 areas of Kabul.

No further details have been provided. No group, including the Taliban, has claimed responsibility for the attack. The rocket attacks began after Afghan President Ashraf Ghani placed a wreath at the Minaret of Independence in order to mark the country’s 101st Independence Day.

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Peace talks

These rocket strikes come just days before the Afghan government's long-anticipated peace talks with the Taliban. The peace talks between the two key shareholders have been finally scheduled after the Afghan government decided to release the last batch of 400 Taliban prisoners following a 'Loya Jirga', a meeting of Afghanistan’s political elite.

The prisoners were released in the hope that peace talks could finally take place but on August 16 the Taliban issued a statement wherein they stated that the rebel group did not view the current Afghan government as a legitimate system.

The 19-year struggle with the Taliban has already claimed more than 34,000 lives as per the United Nations records. As per the United States and the Taliban agreement, the Trump administration has started withdrawing troops from Afghanistan, which was one of the main election promises of the Trump campaign in 2016.

(Input/Image Credit ANI)

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