Suicide bomber targets Afghan provincial governor, 8 killed

Kabul, Oct 5 (efe-epa).- A suicide bomber detonated his explosive-laden car to target the cavalcade of an Afghan provincial governor, killing at least eight people and wounding 20 in the eastern Laghman province on Monday, an official said.

Governor Rahmatullah Yarmal escaped unhurt in the attack that took place in Mehtarlam, the capital of Laghman province.

But four of his bodyguards were killed, governor spokesperson Asadullah Dawlatzai told EFE.

Dawlatzai said authorities took 28 people to a hospital.

Eight of them were declared dead by the doctors and 20 were being treated for splinter wounds, he said.

Laghman province, located around 140 km east of the national capital Kabul, is among the relatively calmer territories in the war-torn country.

Taliban fighters are present in four out of its five districts.

No militant group claimed responsibility for the attack.

The attack comes after at least 15 people were killed and dozens injured in a militant bombing in the Shinwar district of Nangarhar province.

Interior Ministry spokesperson Tariq Arian said Taliban militants carried out the attack in Nangarhar near a mosque during afternoon prayers.

Both Taliban and Islamic State militants are active in Nangarhar province, which is located around 40 kilometers (25 miles) east of Jalalabad city.

“In a series of their crimes against people, the Taliban conducted 650 terrorist attacks in the past two weeks, in which 210 civilians were killed and injured,” Arian said.

Of those casualties, 69 were fatal.

The attacks come amid peace talks between the Afghan government and the Taliban in the Qatari capital of Doha for the last more than three weeks.

A ceasefire between the Afghan security forces and the Taliban is expected to be one of the top agenda points of the negotiators, and it could bring an end to nearly two decades of war in the country.

However, the discussions have remained stuck over various differences, including the role of the United States’ agreement with the Taliban in the peace process.

The insurgents are demanding that the talks should be based on their agreement with Washington signed in February. EFE-EPA

bks/ssk