Taliban car bomb kills at least 14 in central Afghan province

  Sunday, 07 July 2019
source: abna

A Taliban attack on a government security compound in central Afghanistan on Sunday killed at least 14 people and wounded more than 180, including scores of children, hours before a meeting in Qatar aimed at preparing the ground for peace talks.
AhlulBayt News Agency (ABNA): A Taliban attack on a government security compound in central Afghanistan on Sunday killed at least 14 people and wounded more than 180, including scores of children, hours before a meeting in Qatar aimed at preparing the ground for peace talks.
Taliban militants detonated a car bomb in Ghazni city near an office of Afghanistan’s main intelligence service, the National Directorate of Security (NDS), during Sunday morning’s rush hour, officials said.
The Taliban claimed responsibility, saying in a statement dozens of NDS officers were killed or wounded.
The attack took place as Taliban officials and a selected group of Afghan activists and civil society figures prepared to meet in Doha, casting a pall over talks intended to open the way for full peace negotiations in the future.
“It is unfathomable to endanger children in this way and I strongly condemn this attack,” U.S. Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation, Zalmay Khalilzad, said in a tweet.
Health officials in Ghazni said 13 adults, including eight NDS members, and a child were killed. At least 60 children who were attending classes in a private school situated near the blast site were among the 180 people wounded.
Doors and windows of the school were destroyed in the powerful explosion, the children suffered multiple injuries caused by flying shards of glass and broken pieces of wood.
“The casualty figures may rise as this is not the last report of those injured in the powerful blast,” said Zaher Shah Nekmal, a health director in Ghazni province.
Ghani condemned the Taliban bombing in Ghazni on Sunday, and questioned their real intent as they hold talks in Qatar.
“They stain their hands with the blood of innocent people in Afghanistan every day. They should know that it is not possible to gain privileges in peace talks by targeting civilians, especially children,” he said in a statement.


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