One day after the signing of the Bilateral Security Agreement on Tuesday, fresh violence broke out in the Afghan capital of Kabul on Wednesday.
On Wednesday suicide bombers took the lives of at least seven and wounded almost 20 when they set off first one bomb, attacking a bus, and then another bomb a short time later, near another bus. Both buses were carrying Afghan Army personnel at the time of the atttacks.
The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attacks, stating that the attacks were a direct result of the signing of the agreement yesterday. The terrorist organization said that these attacks will increase. In a Twitter posting, the Taliban tweeted, “Double martyrdom attack has rocked #Kabul city this morning amid current year’s ongoing #Khaibar operation.”
The BSA was signed by Afghanistan’s newest president, Ashraf Ghani, during his first day in office. The agreement allows the U.S. to keep 10,000 military and civilian personnel in the country after the official withdrawal date of December 31st. It also allows 2,000 NATO troops to remain in-country.
A spokesman for the Taliban, Zabihullah Mujahid, said in a statement after the signing, “The signatories of this pact and its backers shall all be forever ingrained as foreign slaves in the history books and memories of the Afghans.”