Brigadier General Juma Gul Hemat has been appointed as the new police chief for Kabul, amid rising tension in the capital.
The announcement was made early Monday morning by the Ministry of Interior spokesman Tariq Arian.
Hemat, an experienced police chief, takes over from Amanullah Wahidi who was fired this week over the rising insecurity in Kabul city and surrounding areas.
Hemat has in the past been police chief for Kunar and Helmand provinces and was also recently appointed as Badghis governor.
Wahidi meanwhile was appointed to the position in April, replacing Lieutenant General Sayed Mohammad Roshandil.
However, he was fired following the uptick in explosions in the capital along with a rocket attack, an assassination and an attempted assassination.
On Saturday, an Afghan National Army colonel who served for the logistics department of the Defense Ministry and his driver were killed in an attack by armed men in Kart-e-Naw in Kabul’s PD8.
On the same day a string of IEDs were detonated against targets in the city. As many as five were detonated on Saturday morning and Saturday night.
At least one person was killed and six others wounded in these blasts.
Just over a week ago, peace negotiator and political activist Fawzia Koofi was shot in the hand after gunmen attacked her on the outskirts of the city while she was traveling back from Parwan province.
In a separate incident last Wednesday, Abdulbaqi Amin, head of the Ministry of Education’s science council and proponent of peace, was killed in a targeted blast while driving in Kabul city.
This incident came just a day after Kabul was bombarded by rockets that killed at least three people. Daesh claimed responsibility for the attack and said it had fired off 16 rockets. The city’s diplomatic zone and Presidential Palace had been the main targets.
But, residents raised their voices in the past few weeks over the growing number of attacks – especially magnetic IEDs that are attached to vehicles.
As a result, President Ashraf Ghani met with Kabul police officials three days ago and ordered them to take steps to improve the security situation in the capital.
According to the Presidential Palace, security officials were told by the president that he had “visited police stations, the situation is not acceptable to me and there is an immediate need for administrative changes.”
Ghani also called out police chiefs and said they need to be more vigilant and ensure individuals who break the law are dealt with according to the law.
