Suicide bomber kills 15 Afghan army trainees

KABUL: A suicide bomber killed 15 Afghan army trainees as they travelled home from their base in Kabul on Saturday, officials said, as militants intensify a deadly rampage that has claimed more than 200 lives this week. ››

KABUL: A suicide bomber killed 15 Afghan army trainees as they travel led home from their base in Kabul on Saturday, officials said, as militants intensify a deadly rampage that has claimed more than 200 lives this week.

This was the second suicide bombing in the Afghan capital in 24 hours and the seventh major assault in Afghanistan since Tuesday, capping one of the bloodiest weeks in the war-weary country in recent memory.

The latest attack comes a day after a suicide bomber blew himself up in aS hi amos que during evening prayer sin Kabul on Friday, killing 56 people and wound- ing 55 others in an assault claimed by the Islamic State .

In an email to journalists, the Taliban said it was responsible for the ambush on the army cadets, taking to five the number of attacks on police and military bases this week that involved the insurgents.

“This afternoon when a minibus carrying army cadets was coming out of the military academy, a suicide bomber on foot targeted them, martyring 15 and wounding four ,” a defence ministry spokesman said.

Kabul Crime Branch chief Gen Mohammad Salim Almas said police have launched an investi- gationinto the attack which happened in the west of the city.

The spate of deadly attacks underscores deteriorating security across Afghanistan as the Taliban step up their assaults on security installations to devastating effect and the Islamic State group targets Shia mosques.

Nato’s Resolute Support mission in Afghanistan tweeted the assault on the army trainees was an “attack on the future” of the country and its security forces.

“This attack in #Kabul shows the insurgents are desperate and cannot win” against Afghanistan’s security and defence forces, it said. AFP