Blast shakes Kabul as US military chief visits

A blast which rocked the Afghan capital as Washington’s military chief arrived to explain the sacking of the US commander.

KABUL: A blast which rocked the Afghan capital on Saturday was accidental, Nato said, as Washington’s military chief arrived to explain the sacking of the US commander of foreign forces in the country.

The blast, near the foreign ministry in Kabul’s embassy district, happened when an anti-personnel mine in an Afghan army vehicle accidentally detonated, a spokesman for Nato’s International Security Assistance Force said.

It was not an attack by Taliban-linked insurgents, Lieutenant-Commander Ian Baxter told AFP about the blast, which happened around 9:55 am. The blast shook Kabul after US Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, arrived late Friday on a mission to reassure Afghan leaders following the sacking of the top commander.

Police at the scene told AFP there were no casualties.

General Mohammad Zahir Azimi, spokesman for the defence minister, said the Afghan National Army driver of the truck had been detained for questioning.

Mullen was set to meet Afghan President Hamid Karzai, the presidential office confirmed, after US General Stanley McChrystal was sacked for insubordination.

During his one-day visit, Mullen was also due to meet US and Nato officials, the US embassy said.

Mullen was expected to explain the circumstances leading up to McChrystal’s sacking and reassure Karzai that a change of leadership did not mean a change of tactics.

“My message will be clear. Nothing changes about our strategy. Nothing changes about the mission,” said Mullen at a press conference in Washington before his departure for Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 27^th, 2010.