bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

helpersCheckIsPostiesArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

moreOnThisArticles

urlAlias

commentCount

sponsorType

authorLocations

authors

paywallTypes

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

socialHeadline

headline

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

publishedDate

additionalInfoBoxes

images

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

createdDate

sponsor

factSheets

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

copyrighted

customTimezone

liveContents

Agence France-Presse

A car bomb targeting an Afghan politician killed nine people and wounded more than a dozen in Kabul on Sunday, officials said, the latest attack to rock the capital.
Kabul has been hit by a wave of deadly violence in recent months despite the Taliban and government engaging in peace talks to end the country’s long conflict.
Sunday’s bombing targeted parliamentarian Khan Mohammad Wardak who was injured in the attack, officials said.
“Nine people were killed and 20 others were wounded in the car bomb,” Interior Minister Masoud Andrabi told reporters, adding that all the casualties were civilians.

The ministry said in a separate statement that women and children were among those wounded by the “terrorist attack”.
A security source said the car bomb detonated in the west of the capital.
“It was a powerful explosion that has caused a lot of damage to houses in the vicinity,” the source said.
Television footage showed at least two cars on fire, with plumes of thick black smoke billowing into the sky.
An aide to lawmaker Wardak said the attack occurred when he was travelling in his convoy, and five of his bodyguards were among the wounded.
“The enemies of Afghanistan carried out a terrorist attack on Khan Mohammad Wardak,” President Ashraf Ghani said in a statement condemning the bombing.
“Terrorist attacks on civilian targets and facilities will endanger the opportunity for peace,” he added.
Taliban peace deal will help Afghanistan in fighting IS, says Afghan security official
No group has so far claimed responsibility for the attack, and the Taliban denied their involvement.
The jihadist Islamic State has claimed responsibility for some of the recent attacks in Kabul.
Dozens of people, mostly students, were killed when IS jihadists attacked two education centres, including one at Kabul University that saw gunmen open fire on classrooms.
The group has also claimed a series of recent rocket attacks in and around Kabul.
Later on Sunday, a roadside bomb blast in west Kabul killed one civilian, police said, adding two other bombs were dismantled in the area.
Terrorist attacks on civilian targets and facilities will endanger the opportunity for peace.
Afghan’s President Ashraf Ghani
Kabul has seen a spate of targeted assassinations of prominent figures in recent months, including top officials, journalists, clerics, politicians and rights activists.
Last week a deputy governor of Kabul province was killed when a bomb attached to his vehicle detonated while he was on his way to work.
Vice-President Amrullah Saleh, a strong opponent of the Taliban, was appointed in October to lead a taskforce to curb the violence in Kabul.
Saleh’s programme was popular with people in the capital, which prompted the Taliban to launch new attacks in an attempt to discredit him, said Sayed Nasir Musawi, an independent Kabul-based political analyst.


Sunday’s car bomb comes just two days after 15 children were killed and many more wounded when a motorbike laden with explosives blew up near a religious gathering in a remote part of the eastern province of Ghazni, officials said, blaming the Taliban.
The Taliban denied involvement and said the blast occurred when “unexploded ordnance” detonated near the children.
Violence has surged across several provinces in Afghanistan this year.
Attacks by the Taliban have killed nearly 500 civilians and wounded more than 1,000 others over just the past three months, the interior ministry said on Saturday.
US envoy Zalmay Khalilzad who negotiated a landmark deal for Washington with the Taliban earlier this year condemned the “high level of violence” in a series of tweets after the Ghazni blast.

“We condemn all those who authorise and carry out such attacks across Afghanistan, creating terror and bloodshed,” he said.
“We call for all sides to reduce violence and move quickly to a ceasefire.”
Peace talks – which opened in September in the Qatari capital of Doha – are currently on a break until early January.
Outgoing US President Donald Trump has pushed to end America’s longest war, with the Taliban-Washington deal committing the US to pull all of its troops from the country by May 2021.


Jennifer Lawrence-produced film shows women’s torment in Afghanistan under the Taliban

Taliban seeks international aid for Afghanistan’s reconstruction

India seeks to boost ties with Afghanistan – is it a move to sideline Pakistan?

‘Witch flies’ above China on broomstick, Taliban tourism boom, fake visitor attraction and more latest videos

Afghanistan

Nine killed and a dozen wounded in Kabul car bomb attack targeting Afghan MP

Damaged cars at the site of an attack in Kabul, Afghanistan, on Sunday. Photo: AFP

epa08863616 A handout photo made available by the Afghan President's office shows Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, during a meeting of HCNR in Kabul, Afghanistan, 05 December 2020. The Afghan government and Taliban negotiators announced on 02 December, that they have reached a deal to move forward with bilateral peace talks, a major breakthrough after months of negotiations in Doha.The agreement allows the negotiators to work on the agenda and rules for talks and take critical issues up for discussions. EPA-EFE/AFGHAN PRESIDENTIAL PALACE HANDOUT HANDOUT HANDOUT EDITORIAL USE ONLY/NO SALES

FILE PHOTO: Zalmay Khalilzad, U.S. envoy for peace in Afghanistan is seen during talks between the Afghan government and Taliban insurgents in Doha, Qatar September 12, 2020. REUTERS/Ibraheem al Omari/File Photo

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo meets Taliban and Afghan government negotiators in Qatar

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo prepares to board a plane at Old Doha International Airport in Doha, Qatar on Saturday. Photo: Reuters

A handout picture released by the Qatar Amiri Diwan on November 3, 2020, shows Emir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani delivering a speech to the Shura Council in the capital Doha. - Qatar's ruler said that a long delayed vote for the country's policy reviewing chamber will be held in October 2021, marking the Gulf emirate's first national election. The currently un-elected Shura Council advises the absolute ruler on draft laws but does not create its own legislation and can be overruled by a simple decree. (Photo by - / Qatar Amiri Diwan / AFP) / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - MANDATORY CREDIT "AFP PHOTO / QATAR AMIRI DIWAN" - NO MARKETING NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS - DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS

U.S. Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, meets with Taliban chief negotiator, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, amid talks between the Taliban and the Afghan government, in Doha, Qatar November 21, 2020. Patrick Semansky/Pool via REUTERS

Taliban peace deal will help Afghanistan in fighting IS, says Afghan security official

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani during a meeting of HCNR in Kabul, Afghanistan on Saturday. Photo: EPA-EFE

Afghanistan National Security Council advisor, Hamdullah Mohib addresses the Manama Dialogue security conference in the Bahraini capital on December 5, 2020. (Photo by Mazen Mahdi / AFP)

Dozens dead after twin suicide bombings targeting Afghan authorities

Afghan soldiers outside a military compound after a car bomb blast on the outskirts of Ghazni city. Photo: Reuters

epa08850207 Afghan security officials secure the scene of a suicide truck bomb blast that targeted a Police base on the outskirts of Ghazni, Afghanistan, 29 November 2020. At least 30 people, most of them from the police, were killed and 24 injured on 29 November, when a suicide bomber detonated an explosive-laden Humvee close to a police base in Afghanistan's southern Ghazni province. EPA-EFE/SAYED MUSTAFA

News

World

Russia & Central Asia


The Afghan ministry said in a statement that women and children were among those wounded in the bombing
MP Khan Mohammad Wardak said the attack occurred when he was travelling in his convoy, and five of his bodyguards were among the wounded



Sunday’s bombing targeted parliamentarian Khan Mohammad Wardak who was injured in the attack, officials said.


Nine killed and a dozen wounded in Kabul car bomb attack targeting Afghan MP

The Afghan ministry said in a statement that women and children were among those wounded in the bombing MP Khan Mohammad Wardak said the attack occurred when he was travelling in his convoy, and five of his bodyguards were among the wounded

The Afghan ministry said in a statement that women and children were among those wounded in the bombing

MP Khan Mohammad Wardak said the attack occurred when he was travelling in his convoy, and five of his bodyguards were among the wounded