30 civilians killed in Afghan violence

Blast hits Afghan capital Kabul as Ghani outlines peace plans; top diplomats from Russia, US and EU back Afghan president’s efforts to stabilise, reform war-battered nation

KABUL: At least 30 civilians were killed along with 16 Taliban fighters as Afghan government forces battled insurgents in southern Helmand province overnight, provincial officials said on Wednesday.

In the eastern part of the capital Kabul, a car bomb exploded outside a security contractors’ compound on Wednesday, opening the way for gunmen who battled security forces only hours after President Ashraf Ghani outlined plans for peace in Afghanistan.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack, which hit a compound of the British security group G4S , near an industrial park on the main road leading out of Kabul towards eastern Afghanistan.

The attack came only hours after Afghan President Ashraf Ghani told a U.n.-sponsored conference in Geneva of plans to seek a peace agreement with the Taliban, which he said would take at least five years.

Efforts to open peace talks with the Taliban have picked up following the appointment of U.S. special peace envoy Zalmay Khalilzad, but the violence that kills thousands in Afghanistan every year continues.

LASHKAR GAH: At least 30 Afghan civilians were killed in US air strikes in the Afghan province of Helmand, oficials and residents of the area said on Wednesday, the latest casualties from a surge in air operations aimed at driving the Taliban into talks.

Afghanistan’s Nato-led force said Afghan government forces and US advisers came under ire from Taliban ighters in a compound in Garmsir district and called in an air strike, but the ground forces were not aware of any civilians in or near the compound.

Helmand provincial governor Mohammad Yasin Khan said troops had called in air strikes against Taliban ighters in Garmsir, causing both civilian and Taliban casualties.

A resident of the area called Mohammadullah said the clash began late on Tuesday.

“Foreign forces bombed the area and the bombs hit my brother’s house,” he said.

He said women and 16 children were among the dead.

Another resident, Feda Mohammad, said some victims were still buried in the rubble of the compound.

“The area is under the control of Taliban but all of the victims of last night’s bombing are civilians,” he said.

The Nato-led Resolute Support forces said Afghan forces and US advisers came under ire from Taliban equipped with machines guns and rocket-propelled grenades.

“At the time of the strike, the ground force was unaware of any civilians in or around the compound; they only knew that the Taliban was using the building as a ighting position,” a force spokeswoman said in a statement.

“We investigate every credible allegation of error and review every mission to learn, adapt and improve,” she said.

The deaths are the latest in a growing civilian casualty toll caused by air strikes and underline the severity of the Afghan war even as moves to begin peace talks have picked up with contacts between US peace envoy Zalmay Khalilzad and Taliban representatives.

The United Nations said last month the number of civilian casualties from air strikes in the irst nine months of the year was already higher than in any entire year since at least 2009.

The increase has come together with a sharp jump in the number of air operations under a US strategy aimed at stepping up pressure on the Taliban to force them to accept a negotiated end to the 17-year war.

According to igures from the US military, US aircraft had released 5,213 weapons by the end of September, up from 4,361 for the entire 2017 and the highest number since 2011 when there were more than 100,000 US troops in Afghanistan.

A loud explosion hit the Afghan capital Kabul on Wednesday, apparently targeting an area close to a security contractors’ compound not far from the city’s airport, oficials said.

It was not immediately clear what had caused the blast, which sent a plume of smoke into the sky.

The explosion came only hours after Afghan President Ashraf Ghani told a Un-sponsored conference in Geneva of plans to seek a peace agreement with the Taliban.

“It is too early to speak about the type and exact target of the blast,” Kabul police spokesman Basir Mujahid said.

Separately, top diplomats from Russia, the United States and the European Union united on Wednesday in support for the Afghan president’s efforts to stabilize his war-battered nation, saying progress has been made but more is needed, especially in areas of security, anti-corruption and the push to launch peace talks with the Taliban.