At least 13 killed in car bomb attack near police headquarters in Afghanistan
(Update 1: updates casualties)
Kabul, Oct 18 (efe-epa).- A suicide bomber detonated an explosive-laden car just outside the police headquarters in the capital of western Ghor province of Afghanistan on Sunday, killing at least 13 people and inuring nearly 100, officials said.
“We have received 13 dead bodies and 95 injured persons in our hospital. Currently our health providers are busy providing emergency health services to the injured persons and we will be releasing more details later,” Jumagul Yaqoobi, the director and spokesperson for the Ghor Health directorate, told EFE.
According to interior ministry spokesperson Tariq Arian, the bombing took place around 11 am near the entrance of the police headquarters and directorate of women affairs in Firozkoh, the provincial capital city.
The blast caused damages to several shops and buildings in the area.
Police spokesperson Maroof Ramish told EFE that the dead and the wounded included both security forces as well as civilians.
A spokesperson for the provincial governor, Arif Aber, said nearly the entire city was closed after the blast.
No group has claimed responsibility for the attack so far.
Afghanistan has witnessed a spike in violence in recent weeks despite ongoing talks between the government and the Taliban to restore peace in the country.
The suicide bombing comes after the Taliban last weekend launched a major offensive on the provincial capital of Helmand.
That was the first large-scale attack by the Taliban since the group signed a peace agreement with the United States in Doha on Feb.29.
In the agreement, the Taliban promised to reduce the violence and not to attack any urban areas.
The deal laid the groundwork for the intra-Afghan talks between the government and Taliban representatives, currently underway in Doha.
The parties in the intra-Afgan talks have failed to finalize rules and regulations for the main phase of the negotiations.
Presidential spokesperson Sediq Sediqqi earlier this week strongly condemned the Taliban attacks and said such offensive undermined the peace process.
He said it showed that the Taliban “have no commitment to peace” and if it continued, it would shatter hopes for an end to nearly two decades of war in the country.
US-NATO Commander Gen. Scott Miller has also urged the Taliban “to immediately stop their offensive actions and reduce their violence around the country.”
“It is not consistent with the US-Taliban agreement and undermines the ongoing Afghan Peace Talks,” said Miller in a tweet by United States Forces Afghanistan’s spokesperson Col. Sonny Leggett. EFE-EPA
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