A suicide attack close to the US embassy in Kabul Thursday that killed four Afghan civilians and wounded 20 others was aimed at public health minister, who had been threatened about a possible attack, a government spokesman said. The bomber, who was driving a vehicle packed with explosives, detonated himself as a convoy of foreign forces was passing by, said Zemarai Bashary, Interior Ministry spokesman.
However, Abdullah Fahim, spokesman for Afghan Public Health Ministry, said that the attack was against the health minister, who survived the attack as his vehicle passed the site moments before the blast. Fahim said Public Health Minister Sayed Mohammad Fatemi was threatened several times and recently got an email in which he was threatened with death by insurgents. There was no foreign forces convoy in the area at the time of the blast, the spokesman said, adding, "Moments after the minister's vehicle passed the area and reached the gate of the ministry building, the blast occurred."
Fahim also said that other senior officials of the Public Health Ministry were threatened by letters and emails in the past. Another official from Public Health Ministry, who did not want to be named, said that the threatening email to the minister was sent by the Al Hamza Regiment, a group associated with the Taliban.
The Public Health Ministry compound is located beside the US embassy and is some 150 metres away from the blast site. However, Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid, who claimed responsibility for Thursday's attack, said that the bomber, Wali Mohammad, a resident of Kabul, had targeted foreign forces in the city.