The Star Late Edition

Dozens killed in Afghanista­n bomb attack

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REUTERS

KABUL: A Taliban suicide attacker detonated a car bomb in the western part of Kabul yesterday, killing up to 35 people and wounding more than 40, government officials said, in one of the worst attacks in the Afghan capital in recent weeks.

Police cordoned off the area, located near the house of the deputy government chief executive Mohammad Mohaqiq in a part of the city where many of the mainly Shia Hazara community live.

The suicide bombing, which targeted government personnel, continued the unrelentin­g violence that has killed more than 1 700 civilians in Afghanista­n so far this year.

The Taliban, which is battling the Western-backed government and a Nato-led coalition for control of Afghanista­n, has launched a wave of attacks around the country in recent days, sparking fighting in more than half a dozen provinces.

“I was in my shop when suddenly I heard a terrible sound and as a result all of my shop windows shattered,” said Ali Ahmed, a resident in the area of yesterday’s blast.

Acting interior ministry spokesman Najib Danish said at least 24 people had been killed and 40 wounded but the casualty toll could rise further.

Another senior official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to talk about the incident with the media, said the toll stood at 35 killed.

That was in line with a claim on Twitter by Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid, who said 37 “intelligen­ce workers” had been killed.

Mujahid said in a tweet claiming responsibi­lity for the attack the target had been two buses that had been under surveillan­ce for two months.

Government security forces said a small bus owned by the ministry of mines had been destroyed in the blast but the National Directorat­e for Security, the main intelligen­ce agency, said none of its personnel had been hit.

Three civilian vehicles and 15 shops were destroyed or damaged in the blast, the interior ministry said.

Kabul has accounted for at least 20% of all civilian casualties this year, including at least 150 people killed in a massive truck bomb attack at the end of May, according to UN figures.

The Islamic State group claimed an attack on a mosque in the capital two weeks ago that killed at least four people.

On Sunday, dozens of Afghan troops were under siege after Taliban fighters overran a district in the northern Faryab province, a spokesman for the provincial police has said.

There was also fighting in Baghlan, Badakhshan, and Kunduz provinces in Afghanista­n’s north, and Kandahar, Helmand, and Uruzgan in the south, according to officials.

The resurgence of violence also coincides with the US administra­tion weighing up its strategic options for Afghanista­n, including the possibilit­y of sending more troops to bolster the Nato-led training and advisory mission already helping Afghan forces.

 ?? PICTURE: AP ?? Residents inspect the damage at the site of a suicide attack in Kabul, Afghanista­n, yesterday.
PICTURE: AP Residents inspect the damage at the site of a suicide attack in Kabul, Afghanista­n, yesterday.

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