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Suicide bombing in northern Afghanistan kills 3 soldiers Suicide bomber strikes Afghan market, killing 5
(about 4 hours later)
KABUL, Afghanistan — At least three Afghan soldiers were killed in a suicide bomb attack Monday morning on an army minibus near their base in northern Balkh province, an official said. KABUL, Afghanistan — A suicide bomber struck in a crowded market in eastern Afghanistan on Monday, killing five civilians and wounding nine others, a local official said.
The suicide bomber was on foot and targeted the army vehicle in the Dahdadi district, said Munir Ahmad Farhad, spokesman for the provincial governor in Balkh. Aminullah Shariq, governor of the Paktika province, said the attacker was on foot and had apparently missed a military target when he blew himself up among midmorning shoppers.
He said another 18 military personnel were wounded in the attack. In northern Afghanistan, a suicide bomber targeting an Afghan army minibus near a base killed at least three soldiers and wounded another 18 military personnel, said Munir Ahmad Farhad, spokesman for the governor of Balkh province. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack in an email to media.
Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid claimed responsibility for the attack in an email to media. Taliban insurgents have intensified their attacks across the country against Afghan security forces in the year since the international combat mission wound down. In the eastern Nangarhar province, a presidential palace guard was shot dead inside his home in an attack that also wounded his mother, said Attaullah Khogyani, spokesman for the provincial governor. He said an investigation into the attack is underway.
In eastern province of Nangarhar, a presidential palace guard was killed by unknown gunmen, said Attaullah Khogyani, spokesman for the provincial governor. The Taliban have stepped up attacks on Afghan security forces in the past year, waging offensives across the country, but the chaos of the war also masks criminal behavior and personal feuds.
Khogyani added that the man was shot inside his house and his mother was also wounded in the attack. Deputy presidential spokesman Zafar Hashemi said Afghan forces were fighting intense battles with insurgents in the northern Baghlan province, which he described as a strategic location linking the north to the capital, Kabul.
“An investigation is underway by police to find out who is behind this attack,” Khogyani said. Hashemi expressed hope that a fourth meeting between Afghanistan, Pakistan, China and the United States scheduled for Feb. 23 would lead to a revival of direct talks with the Taliban aimed at ending the 15-year war.
The chaos of Afghanistan’s war, now in its 15th year, often masks criminal behavior and personal feuds. “We are hopeful that in the next meeting we will be able to specify a date for the first direct talks,” Hashemi said, adding that there were two clear choices for the Taliban — “terrorism or peace under Afghanistan’s constitution.”
In further violence Monday, an explosion tore through a market in the Yayakhil district of the eastern province of Paktika, Governor Aminullah Shariq said.
Five civilians were killed and another nine wounded, Shariq said.
Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.