Bomb kills female doctor in Afghanistan
JALALABAD: A roadside bomb explosion killed a female doctor in the eastern city of Jalalabad, provincial officials said on Thursday, days ater three female media workers were shot dead in the same city.
Atahullah Khogyani, spokesman for the governor of Nangarhar province in which Jalalabad is the main city, said the doctor was on her to work in a rickshaw on Thursday morning when she was killed in the blast. A child was also wounded.
Khogyani did not name the doctor but said she worked in the maternity ward of a private hospital.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the atack.
A wave of shootings and small bombs atached to vehicles or planted on the side of a road have targeted journalists, civil society workers and midlevel government employees in recent months.
The government and some foreign powers have blamed Taliban insurgents for many of the atacks and say the militant group is using the tactics to instill fear while avoiding large-scale civilian casualties. The Taliban deny involvement.
The Taliban and Afghan government are holding peace talks in Doha, though progress has slowed while US President Joe Biden’s administration reviews its plans for the peace process and the withdrawal of troops.
On Tuesday, three female media employees of a private TV station, aged between 18 to 20 were shot dead on their way home in Jalalabad city. The atack was later claimed by the Daesh militant group.
Nangarhar, which shares a long and porous border with neighbouring Pakistan, has long served as the main stronghold of Daesh fighters. Militants based there have planned and staged bombings around the country, especially the capital Kabul.
The United States’s special envoy for Afghanistan, Zalmay Khalilzad, has arrived in Doha, sources said on Thursday, where he is set to meet Taliban at a delicate time for the Afghan peace process as Washington reviews its options.
Khalilzad’s planned meetings with Taliban leaders in Doha would be the first in person since Biden’s administration announced it was reviewing plans for the peace process.
Khalilzad landed in the Qatari capital where US brokered negotiations between the Afghan government and Taliban are being held, on Wednesday evening, two sources following the peace process said.