TALIBAN SUICIDE BOMBER KILLS FIVE IN KABUL BANK BLAST

KABUL: A suicide bomber blew himself up outside a bank in Kabul on Tuesday, killing five people and injuring several others in an attack claimed by the Taliban.

The bomb went off outside the Kabul Bank, which usually pays the salaries of security forces personnel and government employees.

“The latest report shows five, including a guard, were killed and eight civilians were wounded in today’s terrorist attack,” said interior ministry spokesman Najib Danish.

The Taliban later claimed responsibility on social media for the bombing.

The blast happened at a time when many officials were expected to be collecting their salaries ahead of this week’s Eid al-Adha holiday.

The blast occurred on a street lined with shops and banks leading to Massoud Square, near the United States embassy and Kabul’s diplomatic area.

AIRSTRIKES KILL OVER A DOZEN CIVILIANS

Airstrikes in western Afghanistan killed more than a dozen civilians, according to residents and officials on Tuesday.

The exact number of casualties in the Monday airstrikes in the Shindand district of Herat province was unclear.

A spokesman for the province’s governor said that 13 civilians and 16 Taliban fighters had been killed, but several residents said the Taliban had left the area and all of the victims were civilians.