IS attack hits Afghan capital
Children draw chalk messages for their teachers on the playground during the Chalk It Up for Our Teachers event at Stormonth Elementary School in Fox Point on Saturday. Pictured are Ian Carlson, lower left, a 7-year-old second grader; his brother, Miles Carlson, right, a 13-year-old seventh grader; their mom, Bridget Carlson, standing; and Audrey Ludwig, a 7-year-old second grader. The event, organized by the Fox Point Bayside PTO as the Thanksgiving holiday is upon us, is a way for students and their families to show thanks and appreciation for teachers who’ve had to work extra hard this year juggling hybrid learning models because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
KABUL, Afghanistan – Mortars slammed into a residential area of the Afghan capital, killing eight people Saturday, hours before U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo held what were likely his last meetings with the Taliban and Afghan government negotiators trying to reach a peace deal.
The assault came amid peace talks in Qatar, where Pompeo told Afghan government negotiators that the U.S. will “sit on the side and help where we can” in the negotiations with Taliban militants.
Two Taliban officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told The Associated Press that the two warring sides found common ground on which to move forward the stalled talks.
In Kabul, at least one of the 23 mortar shells fired from two cars hit inside the Iranian Embassy compound. No one was injured, but it damaged the main building, the Iranian Embassy said in a tweet.
The local Islamic State affiliate issued a statement claiming the attack that targeted the so-called Green Zone in Kabul which houses foreign embassies, the presidential palace and Afghan military compounds, according to SITE Intelligence Group.