4 yıl önce

Several dead, dozens wounded in Afghanistan bomb attack

Car bomb targets government building in Ghani Khel district of eastern Nangarhar province, killing at least 15 people and wounding nearly 40 others, officials say.

AFP

An injured youth is carried to a hospital following the attack that targeted a government building in the restive province, officials say.

At least 15 people have been killed and nearly 40 others wounded in a car bomb attack that targeted a government building in eastern Afghanistan.

The explosion occurred at an administrative building that also housed some military facilities in the Ghani Khel district of Nangarhar province, according to the governor's spokesman Attaullah Khogyani.

"The car bomb detonated at the entrance of the district headquarters building. Several armed attackers tried to enter the building after the attack but were killed by security forces," he said.

Provincial police spokesman Farid Khan confirmed the details.

He said most of the victims were Afghan security force members but several civilians were also among the dead.

Interior Ministry spokesman Tariq Arian said that at least 38 people were wounded in the blast when it hit near a mosque as locals were gathering for the afternoon prayers.

No claim so far

No one has claimed responsibility for the attack but Khan blamed the Taliban. Both the Taliban and Daesh group are active in the region.

Arian also blamed the insurgent Taliban for the attack, saying in the last two weeks they had carried 650 attacks which had killed 69 civilians and wounded 141 people.

The Taliban have stepped up attacks across the country even as the group is meeting for peace talks with Afghan government negotiators in Doha.

A roadside blast in central Afghanistan on Tuesday killed at least 14 civilians, mostly women and children, the Interior Ministry said.

The attack happens as representatives of both the Afghan government and Taliban are opening intra-Afghan negotiations in Qatar to end the country's decades-long long war, following a US-Taliban peace deal signed February 29 in Doha.