Bomb explodes near Kabul airport
KABUL, Afghanistan -- An explosion took place at the entrance to Kabul's international airport on Monday, CBS News' Ahmad Mukhtar reports.
A car bomb detonated near the first check-point at the main entrance of the airport, Deputy Spokesman for the Ministry of the Interior Najib Danish said. The area is usually crowded with passengers entering and leaving the complex.
The Taliban claimed the attack in an email sent to the media, Muktar reports. Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said that two amored vehicles belonging to foreign forces were the targets of the bomb, and that no civilians were killed or wounded.
But in a statement to the media, Kabul's police chief Gen Abdulrahman Rahimi said, "the target was Kabul airport checkpoint, and no foreigner was present at the time of the attack and all victims are Afghan nationals."
5 people were killed and 16 others were wounded in the attack, Rahimi said.
In a televised address on Monday, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani called on Pakistan to crack down on Taliban insurgents.
"We know they have sanctuaries there, we know they are active there. We need all those activities to be stopped," Ghani said.
Since assuming office a year ago, Ghani has pursued closer relations with Pakistan, hoping that it could use its influence with the Taliban to bring the insurgents into peace negotiations. But on Monday, Ghani said "we don't want Pakistan to bring the Taliban to peace talks, but to stop the Taliban's activities on their soil."
Kabul had been on high alert following attacks last weeks, which killed at least 50 people, including an American service member, in the worst violence seen in the city for years.
The violence began after the Afghan intelligence service said the Taliban's long-time leader and figurehead, Mullah Mohammed Omar, had been dead for more than two years.