Page 2 - ARUBA TODAY

A2 UP FRONT
Tuesday 25 July 2017

Afghan security scrutinized after 24 killed Israel seeking alternatives to

metal detectors to end crisis
By KATHY GANNON the Taliban spokesman, “every day people are dy-
AMIR SHAH said insurgents had spent ing.” Addressing the gov-
Associated Press the last two months in Ka- ernment Helam said: “If By KARIN LAUB
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — bul shadowing intelligence you cannot bring peace IAN DEITCH
A Taliban suicide bomber services employees before then please leave and Associated Press
killed 24 people in a hor- striking early Monday. bring other people.” And JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel’s security Cabinet met for a
rific early morning assault Analysts said widespread to the insurgents, he said: second straight day Monday to try to defuse an esca-
in a neighborhood where corruption, rife within the “If you are the Taliban op- lating crisis with the Muslim world and find an alternative
prominent politicians re- government and the secu- position please come and to metal detectors that had been installed a week ear-
side, causing residents and rity forces, makes keeping talk with the government. lier at a contested Jerusalem shrine amid widespread
analysts to question the Kabul safe a difficult job. It is enough, stop killing the protests.
government’s ability to pro- “You can bring any amount people.” Kabul has been Ministers were being asked to consider the installa-
tect Afghanistan’s capital. of explosives into the city if battered by explosions tion of sophisticated, high-resolution cameras and in-
Another 42 people were you have money. Corrup- claimed by the Taliban and creased police deployments as a replacement for the
injured in the attack that tion is the big problem,” by the Islamic State group’s metal detectors, Israeli media said.
The cameras would be installed in Jerusalem’s Old City
where the shrine, revered by Muslims and Jews, is lo-
cated.
Meanwhile, a diplomatic standoff with Jordan, over a
deadly shooting at the Israeli embassy in the kingdom,
added another complication — but also a new open-
ing to end the showdown over the Jerusalem holy site.
At issue is the fate of an Israeli embassy guard who killed
two Jordanians after being attacked by one of them
with a screwdriver.
Jordan said he can only leave the country after an in-
vestigation. Israel said the guard has diplomatic immu-
nity.
Jordan is also heavily involved in efforts to defuse the
crisis at the Jerusalem holy site. Israeli media said an
emerging deal could see the guard freed in exchange
for the removal of the metal detectors.
The head of Israel’s domestic Shin Bet security agency
met with officials in Jordan on Monday to resolve the
crisis, the worst between the two countries in recent
years. Jordan and Israel have a peace agreement and
share security interests, but frequently disagree over
policies at the shrine.
Men look at the remains of their properties at the site of a suicide attack in Kabul, Afghanistan, Later Monday, Jordan’s King Abdullah II and Israeli
Monday, July 24, 2017. A suicide car bomb killed dozens of people as well as the bomber early
Monday morning in a western neighborhood of Afghanistan’s capital where several prominent Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke by phone,
politicians reside, a government official said. Jordan’s state news agency Petra reported.
(AP Photos/Massoud Hossaini) The king stressed the need to “remove the measures
taken by the Israeli side since the recent crisis broke
took place during morn- Kabul-based security ana- affiliate in Afghanistan. On out” and to agree on steps that would prevent another
ing rush hour as govern- lyst Waheed Muzhda told May 31, the Afghan capital escalation in the future, Petra said.
ment employees and stu- The Associated Press in a saw its worst suicide attack Netanyahu’s office said the Israeli-Jordanian contacts
dents made their way to telephone interview. “Any since the Taliban’s col- were conducted in an atmosphere of cooperation. It
work and school. Plumes of group, even a small group, lapse in 2001 — an attack said there was no Jordan proposal to trade the security
black smoke were seen bil- can bring weapons, am- that killed 150 people and guard for a removal of the metal detectors.
lowing skyward outside the munition to anywhere in wounded scores. Jordan is the Muslim custodian of the shrine, which is
entrance to a private high the city.” Last year Afghani- In a statement the Interior also holy to Jews. The 37-acre walled compound is the
school. Students in nearby stan was ranked as one of Ministry called Monday’s third holiest site of Islam, after Mecca and Medina in
dormitories were injured the world’s most corrupt attack “a criminal act Saudi Arabia. It is also the holiest site of Judaism, re-
by flying glass. Several cars countries according to against humanity.” vered as the place where biblical Temples once stood.
were destroyed and small Transparency International. Interior Ministry spokesman As part of intensifying diplomatic efforts, President Don-
shops that lined the busy The western Kabul neigh- Najib Danish said police ald Trump’s Mideast envoy, Jason Greenblatt, met with
street were decimated borhood where the attack were working around the Netanyahu in Jerusalem on Monday. It was the high-
and many of the occu- occurred is home to many clock to keep the capital level, on-the-ground attempt by the Trump administra-
pants within killed. prominent political leaders, secure, however he said in- tion to end the standoff between Israel and the Muslim
The suicide bomber had such as Hazara leader Mo- telligence to thwart attacks world.
rammed his explosive lad- hammad Mohaqiq. It has also required the public’s The escalation began earlier this month when Arab
en car into a minibus car- also been the site of sever- cooperation. Residents gunmen fired from the holy site, killing two Israeli police-
rying employees of the al previous attacks, includ- have to help the security men. In response, Israel installed metal detectors at the
mines and petroleum min- ing the suicide attack last forces, he said. site, a move that incensed the Muslim world.
istry, said Kabul police chief month that killed prominent A second security ana- Muslim leaders alleged Israel was trying to expand its
spokesman Basir Mujahed. Shiite Muslim cleric Rama- lyst, who also served as control at the site under the guise of security, a claim
In a statement to the media zan Hussainzada, who was governor of Kunar and Israel has denied. The tensions have led to mass prayer
the Taliban took responsibil- also a senior leader of the Herat, Sayed Fazlullah Wa- protests and deadly Israeli-Palestinian violence.
ity for the bombing saying ethnic Hazara community. hidi said a growing mis- Netanyahu’s government faced growing domestic crit-
the target was the employ- Amir Helam, whose friend trust of the government by icism in recent days, with some commentators saying it
ees of the intelligence ser- died in the explosion, told many Afghans has helped made hasty decisions affecting the most volatile spot of
vices. Zabihullah Mujahid, Afghanistan’s Tolo TV that insurgents.q the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.q