Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
A security official
inspects the scene of a car-bomb attack Saturday in Herat province, west of Kabul, that killed at least eight people and injured 47. Since the U.S. signed a peace agreement with the Taliban, violence in Afghanistan has spiked, with poverty and high unemployment leading to more crime.
KABUL, Afghanistan — A car bomb killed at least eight people and wounded 47 in Afghanistan’s western Herat province, officials said Saturday. Hours later, the U.N. condemned an “alarming” increase in attacks targeting civilians in the country.
The death toll in the explosion late Friday, which also destroyed 14 houses, is expected to rise because several of the injured were in critical condition, said Rafiq Sherzai, a spokesman for the provincial hospital.
One among the dead and 11 of the injured were members of the Afghan security forces while the remainder were civilians, including women and children, said Interior Ministry spokesman Tariq Arian.
No one immediately claimed responsibility. Within hours of the attack, the U.N. Security Council at a news briefing in New York condemned an “alarming” increase in attacks targeting civilians in Afghanistan even as the Taliban and the Afghan government hold on-again, off-again talks in Qatar. The Islamic State has claimed responsibility for many of the targeted killings.
“These heinous attacks have targeted civil servants, the judiciary, the media, health care and humanitarian workers, including women in prominent positions, those who protect and promote human rights, and ethnic and religious minorities,” the Security Council said.