KABUL, (Reuters) – Afghan President Ashraf Ghani demanded that Pakistan crack down on the Taliban after a car bomb explosion near Kabul airport claimed by the Islamist militants killed five people yesterday, the latest in a series of suicide attacks to rock the capital.
The attacks have followed a change of leadership in the Taliban and have dashed any hopes of an immediate resumption of peace talks with the government. They suggest new Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Akhtar Mansour intends to send a message that there will be no letup in the insurgency.
The attacks, which have killed dozens of civilians and wounded hundreds more, have also stoked tensions with neighbouring Pakistan, the base of many leaders of the hardline movement, according to many in Afghanistan.
Ghani, who has made improving relations with Pakistan a priority on the grounds it may push the Taliban into peace talks, said that Islamabad had to tackle the bomb-making factories and suicide training camps being run on its side of the border.
