Spain’s premier says Kabul attack not against Madrid

KABUL: A car bomb attack near the Spanish Embassy in Kabul was not directed against the embassy itself but a nearby guest house, Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy said on Friday.
Speaking to reporters, Rajoy said that one Spanish policeman was injured in the attack and was being evacuated, and embassy staff were safe and unhurt.
The Taliban claimed responsibility for the car bomb attack in Kabul, further dimming hopes for peace talks with moderate elements of the insurgent movement touted just days ago by President Ashraf Ghani.
Gunfire was reported immediately following the explosion, which the Taliban said was targeted at a guest house attached to the embassy in a heavily protected area of the capital close to many foreign embassies and government buildings.
Security forces with armored vehicles were deployed around the scene, with at least three insurgents involved in the attack, according to one police official.
At least seven people were brought to a hospital operated by the aid group Emergency, 700 meters (yards) from the Spanish Embassy, according to a tweet from the organization.
A Taliban spokesman said the attack had targeted “an invader’s guest house.”
Spain, which contributed to the international force in Afghanistan, withdrew the last of its troops in October although a few officers remain at the headquarters of NATO’s Resolte Support Mission in Kabul.
A Taliban attack in Kandahar killed 50 civilians and security forces personnel, and was only suppressed on Wednesday after more than a day of fighting. The same day, Ghani returned from a regional peace conference in Islamabad aimed at reviving stalled peace talks with Taliban militants.
On Thursday, the head of Afghanistan’s intelligence agency resigned over a row with Ghani, in a move that underlined the divisions among leaders of the country’s security apparatus.