Afghan police: 5 suicide bombers arrested as they entered Afghan capital

Afghan police: 5 suicide bombers arrested in Kabul

KABUL — Afghan police arrested five would-be suicide bombers Thursday in Kabul — the largest suicide bomb team ever apprehended in the capital, officials said.

“If this team had made it through it would have been a disaster as we’ve seen in past instances,” said Abdul Ghafar, deputy commander of the Afghan National Police crisis unit.

He said police, acting on intelligence, stopped the suicide bombers who were riding in a sports utility vehicle in the southeast part of the city. He said the bomb team had been sent by the al-Qaida-linked Haqqani network.

“Today’s operation marks a big success,” Ghafar said. “Our capacities are improving day by day and also our ability to uncover such plots is improving day by day.”