KABUL // At least 35 people were killed in the Afghan capital of Kabul on Friday, as the city was hit by a barrage of attacks and explosions, including at least one suicide bombing.
The deadliest attack came when a bomber blew himself up at the entrance of the Kabul Police Academy, killing at least 20 cadets and wounding another 20, officials said.
The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack on Twitter.
A senior Afghan intelligence official said that the attacker was wearing a police uniform.
The bombing, which came as cadets returned to the academy after their two-day weekend, marked a serious breach of security at the institute for Afghan security forces.
Heavily-armed security officials cordoned off the area and ambulances with wailing sirens rushed to the scene.
The academy in west Kabul is a premier training institution for police forces in Afghanistan, with between 2,000 and 3,000 cadets graduating each year.
That attack was followed by reports of two more explosions, both close to the airport in central Kabul. It was not immediately clear whether there were any casualties.
One struck north of the airport, targeting an area close to bases belonging to the Nato-led coalition and Afghan government buildings. Gunfire continued after the attack and Nato jets were heard flying overhead.
Earlier in the day, a lorry bomb tore through central Kabul, killing 15 civilians and wounding 240 others. It was the first major attack in the Afghan capital since the announcement last week of Taliban leader Mullah Omar’s 2013 death. He had led the movement for some 20 years.
The blast left a 10-metre deep crater and destroyed the boundary wall of an army base. No military casualties were reported.
The attacks come as the Taliban step up their summer offensive despite a bitter leadership transition within the movement.
Speaking after the first bombing, Afghan president Ashraf Ghani threatened a rapid and forceful response to the attack, which he said was aimed at diverting public attention from the Taliban’s struggle.
“We are still committed to peace. But we will respond to these sort of terrorist attacks with force and power,” Mr Ghani said.
The carnage came a day after Taliban insurgents killed nine people in attacks on police targets, including a lorry bombing in the eastern province of Logar.
The increase in attacks highlight growing insecurity in the country amid a faltering peace process with the Taliban as Afghan forces face their first summer fighting season without full Nato support.
A UN report published on Wednesday said civilian casualties in Afghanistan hit a record high in the first half of 2015.
The report said 1,592 civilians were killed, a six per cent fall from last year, but the number of injured jumped four per cent to 3,329.
Overall, casualties reached their highest level since the UN began issuing its authoritative reports in 2009.
The statistics are a grim indicator of the expanding insurgency, with Afghan forces increasingly battling the militants on their own after Nato’s combat mission ended in December.
US-led Nato forces still have a 13,000-strong residual force for training and counter-terrorism operations.
The Taliban face growing internal divisions after Mullah Akhtar Mansour was named as the new head of the insurgent movement last week.
The escalating violence demonstrates Mullah Mansour’s attempt to boost his image among Taliban cadres and drive attention away from internal divisions over his leadership, observers say.
“The new wave of attacks show that Mullah Mansour is no better than Mullah Omar,” said Kabul-based military analyst Mirza Mohammad Yarmand.
“Such tactics have been painfully common in the past. The Afghan government should try to take advantage of a divided and fragmented Taliban.”
But the acrimonious power struggle has cast a pall over a fragile peace process aimed at ending Afghanistan’s long war.
The Taliban have distanced themselves from the second round of talks that were scheduled for last week, but were cancelled after the announcement of Omar’s death
* Agencies