The Afghan security forces on Tuesday shut a large part of the city down as high-ranking officials and members of the international community headed for the Presidential Palace where the Kabul Process meeting was held. 

Many of the foreigners attending were diplomatic staff already based in Kabul but a number of others flew in to the country for the meeting. 

The road connecting the Hamid Karzai International Airport to the Presidential Palace (ARG) was closed off to traffic – despite being a key route through the city. 

However, all the delegates arriving at the airport were ferried to the Presidential Palace by helicopter. 

The road closures however caused enormous disruptions to the local community.

One Balkh resident at the airport said he was struggling to find a taxi. “I just arrived from Hajj pilgrimage, now I need to go to my home in Mazar-e-Sharif, I am searching for a car to carry my luggage,” said Abdul Basir.

“I don’t understand why they are closing down the roads. I am a driver and use this route all the time, but today they have closed all roads,” said a Kabul resident Ziauddin.

Despite Tuesday having been declared a public holiday in the city, many people still had to work and were forced to leave their cars at home and walk for miles to get to their places of work. 

The number of security forces on the streets was also stepped up substantially and Special Forces were deployed to certain areas.

However, despite tight security measures, a rocket was still fired in the city shortly after 11am. The rocket landed on the property housing the Indian ambassador. 

“Until now there are no details available about casualties. But the rocket was fired by the enemies of Afghanistan,” a defense ministry spokesman Dawlat Waziri said.

The incident happened at about 11:15am. The house is in the heavily fortified diplomatic quarter, in Kabul, which houses a number of embassies, guesthouses and Resolute Support headquarters.

This comes after Wednesday’s deadly truck bombing which killed over 150 people – as confirmed by President Ashraf Ghani on Tuesday.

On Friday, five protesters were killed on the streets of the city when security forces opened fire on demonstrators.

One of those killed was the son of a senator. At his funeral on Saturday, three suicide bombers detonated their explosives in a back-to-back attack, killing at least 20, as confirmed by sources.