KABUL, Sept 19, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – A car bomb attack targeting an
intelligence services building in the southern Afghan city of Qalat on
Thursday left at least 10 people dead and 85 wounded, the governor of Zabul
province told AFP.
“This morning a car bomb targeted the NDS in Qalat of Zabul. The regional
hospital of Zabul was also located there and has been destroyed in the
attack,” said Rahmatullah Yarmal.
The bombing was later claimed by a Taliban spokesman, Qari Yousuf Ahmadi,
who said the attack was against the National Directorate of Security.
The blast in Zabul is just the latest in a string of deadly Taliban
bombings across the country as violence intensifies before the end of the
summer fighting season.
The increase in fighting also comes after US President Donald Trump earlier
this month abruptly ended talks with the Taliban following nearly a year of
seeking a deal that would have allowed the US to begin withdrawing troops
from its longest war.
Trump’s declaration that the talks were “dead” spurred the Taliban to
declare last week that the only other option was more fighting, sparking
fears of more attacks ahead of presidential elections at the end of the
month.
A BBC investigation released on Monday claimed that 74 people were killed
every day on average in August, with 611 incidents resulting in 2,307 deaths.