The Washington Post - 14.11.2019

A16 EZ RE K THE WASHINGTON POST.THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 14 , 2019

tack. It was unclear whether the prisoners Ghani said would be released were still in custody Wednesday. The three prisoners — Mali Khan, Hafiz Rashid and Anas Haqqani — belong to the Haqqani network, a violent group allied with the Taliban. The network has been behind the abductions of a number of high-profile foreigners in recent years, including U.S. soldier Bowe Bergdahl, who was held for five years. Haqqani is the son of the Haqqani network’s founder. His older brother is the deputy leader of the Taliban. The three prisoners were ex- pected to be transferred to Qatar

on Tuesday evening, according to an Afghan security official who spoke on the condition of ano- nymity because he was not autho- rized to speak publicly about the exchange. He said that the two hostages, U.S. citizen Kevin King, 63, and Australian Timothy Weeks, 50, had not yet been released but that the Afghan government hoped that transferring the Haqqani network command- ers would lead to an exchange. Ghani’s announcement about the exchange was a departure from his government’s past state- ments that releasing Haqqani would be a “red line,” and it comes at a politically sensitive time. Results from a Sept. 28 presi-

dential election that pitted Ghani against his political rival, Abdul- lah Abdullah, who is serving as Afghanistan’s chief executive, are pending. On Wednesday, the country’s election commission said the results would not be announced Thursday as planned. The target of Wednesday’s blast appeared to be an armored vehicle belonging to GardaWorld, a Canadian security company, and at least four of the wounded were foreigners, said Nasrat Ra- himi, a spokesman for the Interi- or Ministry. He did not know the nationalities of the wounded. GardaWorld said in an emailed statement that its employees were “impacted” in the attack but

declined to comment further. The powerful blast shook Ka- bul during rush hour, smashing windows of houses and shops nearby, residents said. The deaths of at least three children in the attack added to a growing number of child casual- ties in Afghanistan. Last month, the United Nations said that between Jan. 1 and Sept. 30, at least 631 children were killed in Af- ghanistan and 1,830 were wounded, an 11 percent increase com- pared with the same nine-month period the previous year. [email protected]

Sharif Hassan contributed to this report.

BY SIOBHÁN O’GRADY

AND SAYED SALAHUDDIN

kabul — At least 12 people were
killed, three of them children,
and 20 others were wounded
when a car bomb exploded near
the Kabul airport early Wednes-
day, Afghan officials said, the first
major attack on the Afghan capi-
tal after about a month of relative
calm.
The suicide bombing came the

day after President Ashraf Ghani said he would release three Taliban-affiliated insurgent com- manders from prison. It was a major concession that Ghani said he hoped would jump-start talks and lead to the release of hostages, including two foreigners — one American and one Australian — who were kidnapped by the insurgents in 2016. No group has publicly claimed responsibility for Wednesday’s at-

12 killed in Kabul blast,

including 3 children

BY STEVE HENDRIX,

HAZEM BALOUSHA

AND RUTH EGLASH

jerusalem — The cross-border
battle between the Israeli army
and militants in the Gaza Strip
stretched into a second day
Wednesday, with dozens of rock-
ets fired from Gaza following
Israel’s targeted killing of a Pales-
tinian Islamic Jihad leader a day
before.
After an overnight lull, rocket
fire began shortly before dawn,
triggering renewed alarms in Is-
raeli communities near the terri-
tory. Schools, banks and govern-
ment offices in Gaza remained
closed, and residents hunkered
down as rockets and counter-
strikes screamed overhead. In
Israel, schools within 15 miles of
Gaza were closed, keeping
300,000 students at home. Cross-
ings into the territory remained
shut.
The Israeli military said it
struck rocket-launch sites in
Gaza soon after the fusillade
began, continuing strikes against
purported Islamic Jihad military
sites that have killed 26 people
since Tuesday and injured more
than 69, according to the Pales-
tinian Ministry of Health. Israel
said at least 20 of those killed
were militants. The death toll
also included three children, the
ministry said.
The military said more 360
launches from Gaza into Israeli
territory had been detected. The

country’s air defense system, Iron Dome, intercepted dozens of rockets, and most others fell into open areas. But several homes, business and roads were hit. Israel reported no fatalities but many minor injuries, mostly from the scramble of thousands of people to shelters when the alarms sounded. The Israel Defense Forces said it was continuing its strategy of hitting assets controlled by the Islamic Jihad, an Iranian-backed militant group that Israel blames for a string of recent terrorist

attacks. Officials were cautiously optimistic that Hamas, the militant group with governing au- thority in Gaza, would stay out of the fight. That still seemed to be the case Wednesday, according to Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus, an Israeli military spokesman. The most intense fighting around Gaza in months began early Tuesday when Israel launched a lethal airstrike at the house of Baha Abu al-Ata, the Islamic Jihad commander in northern Gaza whom Israel con-

sidered responsible for several previous rocket attacks. At least one missile fired by a fighter jet struck the top floor of Abu al- Ata’s home, killing him and his wife. The Israeli army said his wife was not an intended target. Officials said they were justi- fied in the targeted killing because Abu al-Ata, characterized by Prime Minister Benjamin Ne- tanyahu as the “chief terrorist in Gaza,” was preparing to carry out further attacks on Israeli citi- zens. The security establishment

had come to consider Islamic Jihad a greater threat emanating from Gaza than Hamas, which itself has struggled with the de- stabilizing influence of the ex- tremist group. Israel would not comment on a second airstrike early Tuesday that hit the home of another Islamic Jihad commander in Syria, an attack that was also widely believed to be the work of Israeli forces. In Gaza, residents took cover amid explosions that seemed to come from all over, with Israeli air and tank strikes, Iron Dome intercepts and the rocket launches, not all of which cleared the territory before exploding. Most streets were quiet, and many grocery stores and bakeries remained closed Wednesday. Ga- zans, who have suffered multiple wars between the militants in their midst and Israeli forces beyond the border, are already struggling under a moribund economy and grinding unem- ployment. “We are in constant concern, there is no human life in Gaza, and now the conditions are get- ting more complicated,” said Samira Arafat, 52, who was walk- ing empty streets to find bread and vegetables. “Me, my husband and my children slept in one room last night, fearing the sounds of shelling and rockets. “People in their homes are waiting for what will happen in fear and pain,” she added. For Mohammed Kahlout, 39,

who was standing at the door of his house with two of his neigh- bors, the fighting brings fear, but also the notice of a world that he thinks has forgotten Gaza. “Whether there is bombing or not, there is no work, there are no basic services, electricity is cut,” he said. “I don’t care whether there is war or not. At least the world looks at us and follows our news when there is escalation.” Both Hamas and Islamic Jihad are designated as terrorist orga- nizations by international bod- ies. Israel has urged Hamas to contain the smaller group, which is considered more determined to launch attacks. Israel said it holds Abu al-Ata responsible for numerous rocket attacks over the past few years, including one in early September that sent Netanyahu rushing for cover during a public event in Ashdod. Many consider Tuesday’s as- sassination directly connected to that attack. But members of the Israeli cabinet said Abu al-Ata was targeted because his activi- ties undermined the uneasy truce between Israel and Hamas. Gilad Erdan, the minister of strategic affairs, said Israel still holds Hamas responsible for all violence emanating from the territory, but he confirmed that the focus is on Islamic Jihad for now. [email protected] [email protected]

Balousha reported from Gaza.

Militants in Gaza resume rocket attacks targeting Israel

ANAS BABA/AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE/GETTY IMAGES Rockets from the Gaza Strip streak toward Israel on the second day of fighting that began after Israel’s targeted killing of Baha Abu al-Ata, a Palestinian Islamic Jihad commander in northern Gaza.

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