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WORLD NEWS Wednesday 16 January 2019
Taliban suicide bomber kills 4, wounds over 100 in Kabul

By RAHIM FAIEZ cluding the suicide bomb- area, Sardar Mohammad,
Associated Press er. The four other attackers 55, said this was the most
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — engaged Afghan forces in powerful explosion of all
A Taliban suicide bomber a clash, he said, without that he had witnessed.
killed at least four people elaborating on what hap- Three of his children were
and wounded scores when pened to them. wounded, he said, add-
he detonated an explo- One of the victims, 35-year- ing that the government
sive-laden vehicle late in old pharmacists Emal Fayzi, should move all military tar-
the evening in the Afghan said he was wounded by gets out of residential areas
capital, officials said Tues- shrapnel in the chest as he to protect civilian lives.
day. was walking home in the Patrick Andrew, a NATO of-
It was the latest in a relent- evening. The blast was so ficial in Afghanistan, said
less wave of near daily at- strong, he couldn't see any- the alliance condemns the
tacks by the Taliban, who thing for a while. Later, he "despicable attack on in-
now hold sway over about Afghan security forces gather at the site a day after an attack in realized he was inside an nocent people" near Ka-
half of the country and Kabul, Afghanistan, Tuesday, Jan. 15, 2019. ambulance. bul's Green Village.
regularly target Afghan Associated Press "No one is safe in this coun- "The Taliban must stop
forces. The violence comes try, innocent and poor peo- continuing to use violence
despite stepped-up efforts in Kabul announced that The area has been the fre- ple are the victims of these against their own people
by the United States to find special envoy to Afghani- quent target of attacks in attacks," Fayzi said from his and come to the negotiat-
a negotiated end to the stan Zalmay Khalilzad ar- the past. Many foreign- hospital bed. ing table," he added.
country's 17-year war. rived in Kabul to meet with ers live in the compound, Another victim, 13-year-old The Taliban have so far re-
Health Ministry spokesman President Ashraf Ghani, which is heavily guarded boy Esmatullah, said his two fused direct talks with Kabul
Wahidullah Mayar said Chief Executive Abdullah by Afghan forces and also sisters were wounded inside despite pressure by Saudi
as many as 113 wounded Abdullah and other politi- private security guards. their home, which had all Arabia, the United Arab
were taken to different cal leaders to discuss next Roads to the area re- its windows shattered in the Emirates and even Paki-
hospitals in Kabul after the steps in U.S. efforts to facili- mained blocked by secu- blast. stan, where Washington
Monday evening explo- tate an Afghan-led peace rity forces through the night Interior Ministry spokesman says the Taliban leadership
sion near the Green Village process. and into Tuesday morning. Najib Danish said three is headquartered.
compound, home to sev- Germany's Foreign Ministry Taliban spokesman Zabi- military personnel and a In a separate attack Tues-
eral international organiza- condemned the bomb- hullah Mujahid claimed civilian were killed while day morning in Kabul, a
tions and guesthouses. ing, in which it said a Ger- the attack in a statement 12 women and 23 children civilian was killed when a
The attack came just hours man police officer was also to the media, saying it in- were among the wounded. sticky bomb blew up his ve-
before the U.S. Embassy lightly wounded. volved five attackers, in- Another resident in the hicle, Danish said.q

New Israeli military chief pledges to lead 'innovative' army

By ARON HELLER rael's army chiefs usually will continue our aggressive
Associated Press serve up to four years. policy there as we have
JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel's "I pledge to dedicate all promised and we are do-
new military chief took of- my energy to a demanding ing, relentlessly and without
fice Tuesday, pledging and critical approach to fear."
to lead a "lethal, efficient strengthening our defenses Kochavi and Eisenkot will
and innovative army" into and adjusting it to the chal- compete their handover
the future as it faces grave lenges of the present and with a visit to Jerusalem's
challenges along its bor- future by focusing on in- Western Wall, a lunch with
ders. creasing our striking abilities the president and a joint
Lt. Gen. Aviv Kochavi's inau- against our enemies and meeting of the general
guration comes shortly af- putting forth a lethal, effi- staff.
ter the military's announce- cient and innovative army The 54-year-old Kochavi
ment that it has successfully that maintains its purpose New Israeli Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Aviv Kochavi, center, reviews previously served as com-
completed its operation to and uniqueness," he said. an honor guard in Tel Aviv, Israel, Tuesday, Jan. 15, 2019. mander of military intel-
destroy a network of cross- In his final week on the Associated Press ligence, chief of northern
border tunnels dug by the job, Eisenkot oversaw the command and most re-
militant group Hezbollah, discovery of what the mili- and is believed to possess tary foothold in post-civil cently as Eisenkot's deputy
stretching from Lebanon tary says was the sixth and an arsenal of some 150,000 war Syria, on Israel's door- chief of staff. He also com-
into Israel, and as it appears final Hezbollah tunnel to rockets that can reach step. manded the Gaza division
to be dropping its ambigu- penetrate Israel. He also nearly all of Israel. In recent "In front of us stands one during Israel's 2005 with-
ity over hundreds of strikes it divulged that Israel had years, Hezbollah has been major element — Iran drawal from the Gaza Strip.
had carried out against Ira- struck thousands of Iranian bogged down in fighting and its terror proxies. We As a commander of the
nian forces in Syria in recent targets as part of a policy in Syria on behalf of Syrian have acted responsibil- paratroopers' brigade in
years. shift of engaging Iran di- President Bashar Assad's ity and sensibly to thwart the early 2000s, he was
Kochavi was promoted rectly, instead of just its government. But with that the strengthening of those credited with developing
from major-general at lesser proxies of Hezbollah war winding down, Israeli who seek to harm us," he a tactic of using hammers
Tuesday's ceremony at the in Lebanon and Hamas in security officials fear Hez- said. "I heard yesterday the to break down walls be-
military headquarters in Tel Gaza. bollah is refocusing its at- spokesman of the Iranian tween homes in Palestin-
Aviv, becoming the coun- Israel has long called for tention on Israel. foreign ministry saying: 'Iran ian refugee camps in the
try's 22nd military chief. a crackdown on the Iran- At the Tel Aviv ceremony, has no military presence West Bank, to rob snipers of
He replaces Lt. Gen. Gadi backed Hezbollah — a Prime Minister Benjamin Ne- in Syria, we only advising.' vantage points from where
Eisenkot, who is retiring af- heavily armed militia that tanyahu vowed to prevent Well, I advise them to get they could shoot at Israeli
ter 40 years of service. Is- functions as a mini-army Iran from establishing a mili- out of there fast since we troops on the streets.q