KABUL, Afghanistan -- Fourteen people were killed when a suicide bomber carried out an attack near Kabul's airport in Afghanistan on Sunday, authorities said. They said the blast narrowly missed the country's vice president who was returning home after living in Turkey for more than a year.

Najib Danish, a spokesman for the Interior Ministry, said the blast occurred near Kabul International Airport shortly after the convoy of the controversial vice president had just left the airport.

Gen. Abdul Rashid Dostum, a former Uzbek warlord, and his entourage were unharmed, said Danish. Fourteen people, including both civilians and military forces, were killed in the attack and 50 others wounded, police said.

The Islamic States of Iraq and Syria's (ISIS) local affiliate claimed responsibility for the attack on its Amaaq News Agency website, claiming it had killed and wounded over 115 people. The attacker set off his explosives just outside the airport's gate, police spokesperson Hashmat Stanikzai told BBC News.

In a statement from the presidential palace, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani strongly condemned the attack. Dostum had been undergoing medical treatment in Turkey, and is now well and ready to resume work, said presidential spokesman Haroon Chakhansuri.

Dostum left Afghanistan in 2017 after the attorney-general's office launched an investigation into allegations that his followers had tortured and sexually abused a former ally turned political rival. He has since reportedly been barred by the government from returning to Afghanistan.

It was not immediately clear whether Dostum will now face any charges.

"The judiciary in Afghanistan is an independent body and will carry out its duties and responsibilities as it deems appropriate," said an official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to comment on the issue.

Dostum, accused of war crimes committed after the fall of the Taliban government in 2001, has also been criticized by the United States for human rights abuses. </s> KABUL—Afghanistan’s vice president escaped unhurt from a suicide bombing Sunday at a police checkpoint near the Kabul airport.

Gen. Abdul Rashid Dostum, the powerful former warlord, who has been accused of human rights violations, was returning home after more than a year of exile in Turkey.

The explosion killed 19 people and left 60 others... </s> FILE PHOTO: Afghan Vice President Abdul Rashid Dostum arrives at the Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, Afghanistan, July 22, 2018.REUTERS/Omar Sobhani

MAZAR-I-SHARIF, Afghanistan (Reuters) - Afghanistan’s vice president, Abdul Rashid Dostum, escaped unhurt from an attack that killed one of his bodyguards on Saturday, dodging death for the second time since returning from exile last year.

Attackers ambushed Dostum’s convoy on the way from Mazar-i-Sharif, a city in Balkh province, to Jawzjan province in northern Afghanistan, said Bashir Ahmad Tayenj, spokesman for Dostum’s Junbish Party. Two other bodyguards were wounded.

Dostum was aware of a planned attack but decided to travel anyway, the spokesman added.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the assassination attempt, which comes eight months after Dostum avoided injury in a suicide bombing at Kabul airport. In a tweet, the militant group’s spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid, said four guards were killed and six wounded in the attack.

Last summer’s bombing, which was claimed by Islamic State, took place as Dostum returned home from more than a year in exile in Turkey over allegations of torturing and abusing a political rival.

Dostum had left Afghanistan after heavy pressure from Western donors including the United States.

Less than a year since his return, the general remains a significant, if polarizing, political figure. His Junbish Party is supported mainly by his fellow ethnic Uzbeks.

Dostum has joined the election team of Afghan Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah, one of several contenders in a presidential election scheduled for Sept. 28. </s> Afghan Vice President Abdul Rashid Dostum narrowly escaped a deadly suicide bombing at Kabul airport as he returned home from more than a year in exile in Turkey over allegations of torturing and abusing a political rival.

Afghan officials said Dostum, a powerful former warlord, had left the airport in a motorcade only minutes before the blast struck at the entrance of the airport on July 22, killing at least 11 people.

Dostum was unharmed, said his spokesman, Bashir Ahmad Tayanj.

No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, but both the Taliban and the Islamic State (IS) extremist group are active in the Afghan capital.

Kabul police spokesman Hashmat Stanekzai said at least 11 people had been killed and 14 wounded, including both civilians and members of the security forces. He did not give a breakdown.

“The blast happened right after Dostum’s convoy left the airport,” said Stanekzai.

Mohib Zeer, an official from the public health ministry, also confirmed that 11 people were killed in the attack.

Interior Ministry spokesman Najib Danish said the explosion was “caused by a suicide attacker on foot.”

Hundreds of Dostum’s supporters had gathered at the entrance of Kabul airport to welcome home the ethnic Uzbek leader from exile.

Dostum returned to Kabul after more than a year in self-imposed exile in Turkey amid claims that he had ordered his men to abduct, beat, and rape a political rival in 2017.

Dostum had been undergoing medical treatment in Turkey, was now well, and would resume work, presidential spokesman Haroon Chakhansuri said.

Dostum left the country in 2017, after the attorney general’s office opened an investigation into allegations that his followers had tortured and sexually abused Ahmad Ischi, a former political ally from Dostum’s Junbesh party.

Dostum had denied the allegations and said his departure was for medical checkups and family reasons.

It was not clear whether Dostum will face charges.

A deputy government spokesman told RFE/RL’s Radio Free Afghanistan on July 21 that “legal matters will be pursued according to the law.”

Dostum is a controversial figure who has been accused of serious human rights violations, including the deaths of hundreds of Taliban prisoners in 2001 in the custody of his militia forces.

With reporting by Radio Free Afghanistan, Reuters, AP, AFP, and ToloNews

Copyright (c) 2018. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave NW, Ste 400, Washington DC 20036. </s> Afghan security forces help an injured colleague after a suicide attack in Kabul on July 22, 2018.

KABUL - A suicide bomber killed at least 14 people and wounded 60 at the entrance to Kabul international airport on Sunday (July 22) , officials said, as scores gathered to welcome home Afghan Vice-President Abdul Rashid Dostum from exile.

Senior government officials, political leaders and supporters were leaving the airport after greeting the powerful ethnic Uzbek leader and former warlord when the explosion happened.

"This is the first time I have seen a suicide attack," one witness told AFP.

"People were collecting human flesh with their hands," he said, shaking as he spoke. "What is going on in Afghanistan?"

Dostum, clad in a Western suit and sunglasses and travelling in an armoured vehicle, was unharmed, his spokesman Bashir Ahmad Tayanj said.

Kabul Police spokesman Hashmat Stanikzai said 14 people had been killed and 60 others wounded, adding that nine members of the security forces and traffic police were among the dead.

The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria group claimed responsibility for the attack through its official Amaq news agency late Saturday, according to the SITE intelligence monitoring group.

The suicide bomber was on foot, interior ministry spokesman Najib Danish said, adding that civilians, including a child, and security force members were among the casualties.

Dostum, who is linked to a catalogue of human rights abuses in Afghanistan, was mobbed like a celebrity as he left the chartered plane from Turkey, where he has lived since May 2017.

His return, which has been the subject of much speculation, comes amid violent protests in several provinces across northern Afghanistan, his traditional power base.

Thousands of Dostum's supporters have taken to the streets in recent weeks, shuttering election and government offices and blocking sections of highways to demand the release of a pro-government militia leader and to call for Dostum's return.

Expectations of the return did little to quell the unrest, with protesters vowing Sunday to continue demonstrating until the burly leader of the Uzbek ethnic minority tells them otherwise.

"We don't trust the government. We will continue our protests unless General Dostum tells us to stop," Ehsanullah Qowanch, a protest leader in Faryab province, told AFP.

Qowanch also repeated calls for the release of Nezamuddin Qaisari - a district police chief and Dostum's provincial representative in Faryab - whose arrest earlier this month ignited the protests.

Another protester, Massoud Khan, said: "We have been on the streets for 20 days now. We are not going to stop our protests unless our demands are met." .

Observers say President Ashraf Ghani, an ethnic Pashtun, gave the green light for Dostum to come home to stabilise the north and secure Uzbek support before next year's presidential election, which he is widely expected to contest.

Dostum left Afghanistan in May 2017 after he was accused of organising the rape and torture of a political rival.

He had denied the allegations and said his departure was for medical check-ups and family reasons.

Ghani in 2009 described Dostum as a "known killer", yet he chose him as his running mate in the 2014 presidential election, underlining the sometimes uncomfortable ethnic realities of Afghan politics.

Presidential spokesman Haroon Chakhansuri said Saturday that Dostum had been "treated" and would resume his duties upon his return.

Seven of Dostum's bodyguards have been convicted of the sexual assault and illegal imprisonment of Ahmad Ishchi, a former governor of the northern province of Jowzjan, in 2016.

Dostum allegedly had Ishchi abducted in Jowzjan and then kept him hostage in his private compound for several days, where the captive was said to have been tortured and sodomised.

Chakhansuri deflected questions about whether Dostum would face charges over the incident, saying "the judiciary is an independent body, the government does not interfere in their decisions".

Dostum is one of several controversial figures whom Kabul has sought to reintegrate into mainstream politics since the US-led invasion in 2001.

His heroic status in the north belies the barbarities for which he is known.

Dostum, who helped the United States oust the Taliban regime in 2001, allegedly allowed hundreds of Taliban prisoners to be suffocated in shipping containers. </s> The Latest on developments in Afghanistan (all times local):

Hashmat Stanekzai, spokesman for the Kabul police chief, said that 11 people, including both civilians and military forces, have been killed in the suicide attack near Kabul's airport shortly after the country's controversial first vice president landed on his return from abroad.

Mohib Zeer, an official form the public health ministry, also confirmed that 11 people were killed in the attack and 48 others wounded.

Vice President Gen. Abdul Rashid Dostum, the likely the target of the attack, escaped unharmed.

No one immediately claimed responsibility for the explosion, but both Taliban and the Islamic State group are active in the Afghan capital.

An Afghan spokesman says there has been a large explosion near the Kabul airport shortly after the country's controversial first vice president landed on his return from abroad.

Gen. Abdul Rashid Dostum and members of his entourage were unharmed in the explosion on Sunday, which took place as his convoy had already left the airport.

The Interior Ministry's spokesman, Najib Danish, says the explosion took place outside of the airport. It was unclear what had caused it.

Danish says that Dostum was likely the target of the attack.

No one immediately claimed responsibility for the explosion, but both Taliban and the Islamic State group are active in the Afghan capital.

An Afghan spokesman says the country's first vice president, a former Uzbek warlord, is returning home after more than a year of living in Turkey.

Presidential spokesman Haroon Chakhansuri says Gen. Abdul Rashid Dostum is expected to return to Kabul on Sunday afternoon.

He says Dostum had been undergoing medical treatment in Turkey, was now well and would resume work.

Dostum left the country under controversial circumstances in 2017, after the attorney-general's office opened an investigation into allegations that his followers had tortured and sexually abused a former ally turned political rival.

Dostum had since reportedly been prevented by the government from returning to Afghanistan.

Dostum, accused of war crimes committed after the collapse of the Taliban in 2001, has been criticized by the United States for human rights abuses. </s> At least one person has been killed and four others wounded in a suicide bombing in the Afghan capital, Kabul, according to government officials.

The explosion took place on Friday near a vehicle belonging to foreign workers in the eastern part of the city, Najib Danish, a spokesperson for the interior ministry, said.

Al Jazeera’s Tony Birtley, reporting from Kabul, said Afghanistan’s interior ministry confirmed the attack was a suicide bombing against “foreign forces”.

“We understand that to be NATO employees who were travelling in convoy,” Birtley said.

Local media reports say one person has been killed, and nine others wounded, in the attack, Birtley added.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the explosion.

The Afghan capital has seen a spate of deadly attacks carried out by the Taliban and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS) group, whose affiliate in Afghanistan has grown in recent years.

In January, Taliban claimed responsibility for two separate attacks that killed nearly 130 people.

The blast comes two days after Afghan President Ashraf Ghani offered to recognise the Taliban as a legitimate political group, as part of a proposed process he said could lead to talks aimed at ending more than 16 years of war.

On Thursday, Taliban fighters killed at least six policemen in an attack at a checkpoint in southern Afghanistan, officials said. </s> At least 16 people have been killed in southern Afghanistan when security forces tried to dispose of a container full of explosives in the city of Kandahar, officials said.

Nematullah Barak, head of Mirwais hospital in Kandahar, said the latest figures "show 16 dead and 38 wounded people brought to the hospital".

"We still have two ambulances at the site because there might be more people under the rubble," he told AFP news agency.

Daud Ahmadi, spokesman for the provincial governor, confirmed the death toll and said four security forces were among those killed.

At least five small children were wounded in the explosion, he said.

Dozens of shops and nearby homes were destroyed or damaged, and the death toll could rise, he said.

Abdul Saleh, 29, who was wounded in the blast, said the sound was "so loud, like strong thunder".

He told The Associated Press that he was knocked unconscious and later woke up in a hospital bed.

There was some confusion about the cause of the explosion, which sent a huge cloud of dust and smoke into the air.

Officials initially said it was caused by a bomb packed into a minibus but later said the explosives were in two containers stored in an area of mechanics workshops.

No group immediately claimed responsibility.

The blast was quickly condemned by President Ashraf Ghani, who praised the "brave" officers who dealt with it.

Elsewhere in Afghanistan, the Taliban launched a wave of attacks late on Monday in the eastern Ghazni province, killing at least 14 police, including a district police chief and a reserve unit's commander, according to provincial council member Hassan Reza Yusoufi.

Hundreds of people have been killed in high-profile attacks carried out by the Taliban and Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS) group since the beginning of this year.

At least 11 Afghan schoolchildren were killed in Kandahar province last month when a suicide car bomber hit a convoy of Romanian troops patrolling the area as part of the US-led NATO forces.

In one of the deadliest attacks, at least 29 people, including nine journalists, were killed after two explosions claimed by the ISIL hit the capital, Kabul, last month.

An increase in attacks has been observed ahead of the long-delayed parliamentary and district council elections scheduled for October 20. </s> At least 14 people have been killed and more than 40 wounded in a suicide bomb blast near Kabul’s international airport that struck minutes after Afghan Vice President Rashid Dostum returned to the country from more than a year in exile, police said.

Kabul police spokesman Hashmat Stanekzai said the blast on Sunday went off near the main airport entrance, where supporters had been waiting to greet Dostum as his motorcade passed on its way to the city centre.

Dostum, who was travelling in an armoured vehicle, was unharmed in the blast, which was claimed by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS) group.

“The blast happened right after Dostum’s convoy left the airport,” said Stanekzai.

Civilians, including a child, and security force members were among the casualties, according to Najib Danish, interior ministry spokesman.

He added that the suicide bomber was identified by police but he detonated his explosive vest before he could be safely apprehended.

 Dostum’s return

Dostum, who is linked to a number of of human rights abuses in Afghanistan, was mobbed like a celebrity as he left the chartered plane from Turkey where he has lived since May 2017.

Dostum’s triumphant return was in stark contrast to the outrage he faced after reports in 2016 that his guards had seized political rival Ahmad Eshchi and subjected him to beatings, torture and violent sexual abuse.

He denied Eshchi’s accusations but, amid international demands that he face justice to show that powerful political leaders were not above the law, he left the country in May last year, saying he needed to seek medical treatment in Turkey.

On Saturday, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani’s spokesman said accusations against Dostum would be dealt with by independent legal authorities.

Once referred to as a “quintessential warlord” by the US State Department, Dostum has long been accused of serious human rights abuses.

Shortly after the US-led campaign in 2001, he was accused of killing Taliban prisoners by leaving them locked in airless cargo containers. He has denied the accusations.

Even in exile, Dostum remained a powerful figure with wide support among his fellow ethnic Uzbeks in northern Afghanistan.

Ghani now faces the challenge of reintegrating Dostum, an ally in the disputed 2014 election who helped deliver the ethnic Uzbek vote but a volatile and unpredictable partner ever since.

“I think the rehabilitation of General Dostum is a traditional part of the Afghan election season,” Jarrett Blanc, senior fellow at Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington, DC, told Al Jazeera.

“It happened prior to the 2009 election and of cause it famously happened when President Ghani selected him to be first vice-president in 2013 and it’s happening again this year.

“By being the one bold enough to ask General Dostum to be his first vice-president, he was able to signal to all the power brokers in Afghanistan that he was somebody to be reckoned with and to launch himself to the second round and then into the presidency,” Blanc said.

Dostum’s return followed more than two weeks of demonstrations by supporters demanding the release of one of his militia commanders who was arrested following a dispute with officers in the regular security forces.

In remarks to his supporters, he made a brief reference to the commander, Nizamuddin Qaisari, who remains in custody pending an investigation.

But Dostum also called on protesters who had blocked roads and government offices in northern Afghanistan to end their demonstrations.
An ISIL suicide bomber kills 14 people and wounds over 60 others at a police checkpoint near Hamid Karzai International Airport. The attack coincides with Afghan Vice President Abdul Rashid Dostum returning to Afghanistan after more than a year in exile in Turkey. Dostum and his entourage are unwounded.