An early morning barrage of mortar shells slammed into the Afghan capital on Saturday, killing at least one civilian and wounding a second.
Officials said the rockets were fired from the northern edge of the city and mostly landed in eastern areas.
"This morning, 10 rockets were fired from the Labe Jar neighbourhood of Kabul," interior ministry spokesman Tariq Arian told reporters.
He said three rockets landed near Kabul Hamid Karzai International Airport and seven in residential areas, leaving one civilian dead and two wounded.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack and the Taliban insurgent group denied any involvement. Afghanistan’s ISIS affiliate has carried out similar attacks in the past, including last month when it claimed credit for firing more than two dozen mortar rounds that killed eight civilians and wounded 31.
Afghan Vice President Amrullah Saleh said on his Facebook page on Saturday that he had received a warning from ISIS that it would "transform Kabul into a slaughterhouse for Shiites" if any of the extremist group's militants arrested by government forces were executed.
In recent months, Mr Saleh and his aides have pushed for public trials of "terrorists" arrested in connection with deadly attacks and for those found guilty to be hanged publicly.
ISIS has regularly claimed attacks targeting the minority Shiite Hazara community in Afghanistan.
On Saturday, in a separate statement, the interior ministry said attacks such as Saturday's were aimed at "soft targets".
"The enemies of the people of Afghanistan have intensified the violence," it said.
"But they have failed to capture districts and they have lost in the battlefields, so they have resorted to hitting at soft targets," it said.
Violence has surged across Afghanistan in recent months, with several deadly attacks carried out in Kabul, despite the Taliban and the government engaging in peace talks since September 12 in Qatar.
Apart from the November rocket attack, ISIS claimed two deadly assaults in Kabul.
Those attacks targeted educational centres in the capital that killed at least 50 people, mostly students, including one on Kabul University that saw gunmen spraying classrooms with bullets.
Authorities blamed the attacks on educational centres on the Haqqani network, an affiliate of the Taliban.
Violence has also surged amid an ongoing withdrawal of US troops.
In November, the Pentagon said it would pull 2,000 troops out of Afghanistan, speeding up the timeline established in a February agreement between Washington and the Taliban that envisions a full withdrawal by May 2021.
The deal also stipulates that the insurgents will not target key cities in the country, although Afghan authorities have blamed them for such attacks.
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The Bio
Favourite place in UAE: Al Rams pearling village
What one book should everyone read: Any book written before electricity was invented. When a writer willingly worked under candlelight, you know he/she had a real passion for their craft
Your favourite type of pearl: All of them. No pearl looks the same and each carries its own unique characteristics, like humans
Best time to swim in the sea: When there is enough light to see beneath the surface
Monday's results
- UAE beat Bahrain by 51 runs
- Qatar beat Maldives by 44 runs
- Saudi Arabia beat Kuwait by seven wickets
The five stages of early child’s play
From Dubai-based clinical psychologist Daniella Salazar:
1. Solitary Play: This is where Infants and toddlers start to play on their own without seeming to notice the people around them. This is the beginning of play.
2. Onlooker play: This occurs where the toddler enjoys watching other people play. There doesn’t necessarily need to be any effort to begin play. They are learning how to imitate behaviours from others. This type of play may also appear in children who are more shy and introverted.
3. Parallel Play: This generally starts when children begin playing side-by-side without any interaction. Even though they aren’t physically interacting they are paying attention to each other. This is the beginning of the desire to be with other children.
4. Associative Play: At around age four or five, children become more interested in each other than in toys and begin to interact more. In this stage children start asking questions and talking about the different activities they are engaging in. They realise they have similar goals in play such as building a tower or playing with cars.
5. Social Play: In this stage children are starting to socialise more. They begin to share ideas and follow certain rules in a game. They slowly learn the definition of teamwork. They get to engage in basic social skills and interests begin to lead social interactions.
Global state-owned investor ranking by size
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United States
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China
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UAE
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Japan
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Norway
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Canada
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Singapore
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Australia
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Saudi Arabia
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South Korea
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Gothia Cup 2025
4,872 matches
1,942 teams
116 pitches
76 nations
26 UAE teams
15 Lebanese teams
2 Kuwaiti teams
WHAT IS A BLACK HOLE?
1. Black holes are objects whose gravity is so strong not even light can escape their pull
2. They can be created when massive stars collapse under their own weight
3. Large black holes can also be formed when smaller ones collide and merge
4. The biggest black holes lurk at the centre of many galaxies, including our own
5. Astronomers believe that when the universe was very young, black holes affected how galaxies formed
