Incident Summary:
04/18/2011: On Monday at 1200 noon, at the Defense Ministry in Kabul, Afghanistan, a Taliban militant dressed in Afghan Army uniform wearing a vest rigged with explosives, entered the building and opened fire, killing two soldiers and wounding seven others. The militant was killed in the following shootout. The attack caused an unknown amount of property damage and the Taliban claimed responsibility, saying multiple bombers were involved in the attack. The group added that the visiting French Defense Minister, Gerard Longuet, was the target; however, he was not present in the building at the time of the attack. Zabihullah Mujahid who claims to speak for the Taliban outfit in talks with media via telephone from an unknown location claimed that "a group of fighters equipped with suicide vests infiltrated Defense Ministry to disrupt Afghan defense minister's meeting with his French counterpart." It is unclear whether or not the attacker was an army officer or not.
Overview
GTD ID:
201104180003
When:
2011-04-18
Country:
Afghanistan
Region:
South Asia
Province/administrative
region/u.s. state:
Kabul
City:
Kabul
Location Details:
The attack took place at the Defense Ministry in Kabul.
What
Attack Information
Type of Attack () |
Armed Assault |
Type of Attack () |
Bombing/Explosion |
Successful Attack? () |
Yes |
Target Information ()
Target Type: Government (General) |
Name of Entity |
French Government |
Specific Description |
French Defense Minister, Gerard Longuet, |
Nationality of Target |
France |
Additional Information
Hostages |
No |
Ransom |
No |
Property Damage |
Yes |
Extent of Property Damage |
Minor (likely < $1 million) |
Value of Property Damage |
Unknown |
How
Weapon Information
Type |
Sub-type |
Explosives |
Suicide (carried bodily by human being) |
Firearms |
Unknown Gun Type |
Weapon Details |
A suicide improvised explosive device and unknown firearms were used in the attack. |
Additional Information
Suicide Attack? | Yes |
Part of Multiple Incident? | No |
Criterion 1 () |
Yes |
Criterion 2 () |
Yes |
Criterion 3 () |
Yes |
Doubt Terrorism Proper () |
No |
Who
Perpetrator Group Information
Group Name |
Claimed Responsibility |
Taliban |
Yes (Confirmed: Unknown; Mode: Personal claim) |
Perpetrator Statistics
Number of Perpetrators |
1 |
Number of Captured Perpetrators |
0 |
Casualty Information
Total Number of Casualties |
3 Fatalities / 7 Injured |
Total Number of Fatalities |
3 |
Number of U.S. Fatalities |
0 |
Number of Perpetrator Fatalities |
1 |
Total Number of Injured |
7 |
Number of U.S. Injured |
0 |
Number of Perpetrators Injured |
0 |
Sources
Sources
Press TV, "Several Killed in Afghanistan Attacks," http://www.presstv.ir/detail/175465.html (April 18, 2011). |
Fang Yang, “Suicide Bomber Targets Afghan Defense Ministry, Taliban Claim Responsibility,” Xinhua News Agency, April 18, 2011, http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/world/2011-04/18/c_13834718.htm. |
Ray Rivera, “Suicide Bomber Attacks Afghan Defense Ministry,” New York Times, April 18, 2011, http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/19/world/asia/19afghanistan.html?_r=1&ref=asia. |
Criteria
Criteria 1
The act must be aimed at attaining a political, economic, religious, or social goal. In terms of economic goals, the exclusive pursuit of profit does not satisfy this criterion. It must involve the pursuit of more profound, systemic economic change.
Criterion 2
There must be evidence of an intention to coerce, intimidate, or convey some other message to a larger audience (or audiences) than the immediate victims. It is the act taken as a totality that is considered, irrespective if every individual involved in carrying out the act was aware of this intention. As long as any of the planners or decision-makers behind the attack intended to coerce, intimidate or publicize, the intentionality criterion is met.
Criterion 3
The action must be outside the context of legitimate warfare activities. That is, the act must be outside the parameters permitted by international humanitarian law (particularly the prohibition against deliberately targeting civilians or non-combatants.
Doubt Terrorism Proper
The existence of a "Yes" for "Doubt Terrorism Proper?" records reservation, in the eyes of GTD analysts, that the incident in question is truly terrorism. Such uncertainty, however, was not deemed to be sufficient to disqualify the incident from inclusion into the GTD. Furthermore, such a determination of doubt is subsequently coded by GTD analysts as conforming to one of four possible alternative designations: 1) Insurgency/Guerilla Action; 2) Internecine Conflict Action; 3) Mass Murder; or 4) Purely Criminal Act.
Alternate Designation
The determination of "yes" for "Doubt Terrorism Proper" by GTD analysts is coded as conforming to one of four possible alternative designations: 1) Insurgency/Guerilla Action; 2) Internecine Conflict Action; 3) Mass Murder; or 4) Purely Criminal Act.
Successful Attack
Success of a terrorist strike is defined according to the tangible effects of the attack. For example, in a typical successful bombing, the bomb detonates and destroys property and/or kills individuals, whereas an unsuccessful bombing is one in which the bomb is discovered and defused or detonates early and kills the perpetrators. Success is not judged in terms of the larger goals of the perpetrators. For example, a bomb that exploded in a building would be counted as a success even if it did not, for example, succeed in bringing the building down or inducing government repression.
Type of Attack
This field captures the general method of attack and often reflects the broad class of tactics used. It consists of the following nine categories:
- Assassination
- Armed Assault
- Unarmed Assault
- Bombing/Explosion
- Hijacking
- Hostage taking (Barricade Incident)
- Hostage taking (Kidnapping)
- Facility / Infrastructure Attack
- Unknown
Target Information
This field captures the general type of target. It consists of the following 22 categories:
- Abortion Related
- Airports & Airlines
- Business
- Government (General)
- Government (Diplomatic)
- Educational Institution
- Food or Water Supply
- Journalists & Media
- Maritime (includes Ports and Maritime facilities)
- Military
- NGO
- Other
- Police
- Private Citizens & Property
- Religious Figures/Institutions
- Telecommunication
- Terrorists
- Tourists
- Transportation (other than aviation)
- Unknown
- Utilities
- Violent Political Parties