Taliban Car Bomber Hits French Restaurant in Afghan Capital of Kabul

Restaurant Popular With Foreign Officials

Adding to the growing number of strikes in the capital city of Kabul, an Afghan Taliban suicide car bomber attacked the French restaurant Le Jardin in the city’s downtown area, an eatery popular with foreign officials stationed in the capital.

There aren’t many restaurants in Kabul still considered safe for foreigners, and there’s one less today after this bombing, which set the building on fire, badly damaging it. Two people were killed in the attack, and 15 others wounded.

Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid claimed the death toll was actually higher, and that the Taliban believed “several” foreigners had been slain in the strike. The Ghani government condemned the strike, saying it had “no place in peace negotiations.”

Of course, there are no active peace negotiations in Afghanistan at any rate, with the Taliban withdrawing after the death of their founder Mullah Omar. Since then, they’ve escalated their strikes, particularly in heavily secure areas in Kabul and Kandahar.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.