Multiple blasts kill 5 in Afghanistan
KABUL: Three sticky bomb atacks in the Afghan capital Kabul on Saturday killed at least five people and wounded two others, a police official said, amid a surge in violence in the war-torn country.
Kabul police spokesman Ferdaws Faramarz said two explosions caused by sticky bombs attached to vehicles took place 15 minutes apart and a third targeting a police vehicle exploded about two hours later.
No group immediately claimed responsibility. The second explosion targeted a car in a northwestern Kabul neighbourhood in which national army soldiers were travelling, killing two soldiers. A civilian passerby was also killed.
The third explosion destroyed a police car in western Kabul killing two police officers. Meanwhile, the first blast targeted a civilian car wounding both travelers inside the vehicle. Kabul police said investigations were underway. Meanwhile, the new US administration is reviewing the Us-taliban peace deal signed Feb.29 last year.
A major part of the agreement was Washington’s commitment to a May 1 withdrawal of all foreign troops from Afghanistan.
Russia has stepped up efforts to try and find a way forward, visiting with regional players and officials and senior Taliban figures.
Zamir Kabulov, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s special envoy for Afghanistan, met Pakistani officials, including army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa, on Friday to discuss the peace process.
Washington and Kabul have been pressing for a cease-fire while the Taliban say they will negotiate it as part of peace talks with the Afghan government.
President Joe Biden is now conducting a review of that deal, though the Taliban have warned that there would be no wiggle room on the deadline, threatening to restart the war with the US and Nato if it’s not met.
Since the Us-taliban agreement was signed, the Taliban have kept their commitment not to atack Nato and US troops but are relentlessly targeting Afghan forces, which have also been conducting operations against the insurgents. The spike in violence across Afghanistan is undermining any prospects of a tangible cease-fire.
The Taliban today are the strongest they have been since the 2001 Us-led invasion toppled their regime for sheltering the mastermind of 9/11 terrorist atacks on the US, the Al Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden.