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GHAZNI, Afghanistan (AP) – At least 34 people were killed on Sunday in two separate suicide bombings in Afghanistan that targeted a military base and a provincial leader, officials said.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attacks, which took place as Afghan government officials and the Taliban held face-to-face talks in Qatar for the first time to end the ongoing war. for decades.
In eastern Ghazni province, 31 soldiers were killed and 24 others injured when the attacker drove a military humvee filled with explosives to an army commando base before detonating the car bomb, according to an Afghan National Security Council official, who spoke anonymously because he was not authorized to speak directly to the media.
The head of the provincial health department in Ghazni, Zahir Shah Nikmal, also confirmed the death toll and the numbers of victims of the attack.
The Afghan Ministry of Defense issued a statement claiming that 10 soldiers were killed and nine wounded. The ministry also offered a different account of what happened to the National Security Council official, claiming that the vehicle exploded near the army base after security forces opened fire on the car. It was not immediately clear why there was a gap.
Interior Ministry spokesman Tariq Arian said a suicide bombing had taken place, but did not provide further details.
The soldiers stationed at the base were tasked with carrying out night raids, providing support to the besieged army and police force and taking part in large-scale operations against the Taliban group and the Islamic State. in the eastern and southern provinces of Afghanistan.
The base is located in a desert region, about five kilometers from the town of Ghazni. Parts of the base and a nearby police building were partially destroyed by the powerful explosion. Windows were also blown out in buildings in the city near the site of the bombing.
In southern Afghanistan, another suicide bomber targeted the convoy of a provincial council leader in Zabul province, killing at least three and injuring 21 others, including children, according to the spokesperson. provincial Gul Islam Sial.
Council chief Attajan Haqbayat survived Sunday’s attack with minor injuries, although one of his bodyguards was among those killed, provincial police spokesman Hikmatullah Kochai said.
There has been a sharp increase in violence this year and a wave of Taliban attacks on besieged Afghan security forces since the start of peace talks in September. There have also been deadly attacks this month claimed by Islamic State militants in Afghanistan, including a horrific attack on Kabul University that killed 22 people, most of them students.
The United States, meanwhile, plans to withdraw about 2,500 troops by mid-January, leaving about 2,000 troops in Afghanistan as part of America’s longest war. Afghan officials have expressed concern, however, that a rapid reduction in US troops could strengthen the Taliban’s negotiating position.
The United States has pressed in recent weeks for a reduction in violence, while the Afghan government has called for a ceasefire. The Taliban refused, saying a ceasefire would be part of the negotiations, although the group kept its promise not to attack US and NATO troops.
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Akhgar reported from Kabul, Afghanistan.
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