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GHAZNI: A suicide car bomb attacked an army base in Afghanistan on Sunday (November 29) killing at least 30 security personnel, authorities said, in one of the bloodiest attacks in recent months.
The attack occurred on the outskirts of the city of Ghazni, capital of the eastern Ghazni province, which has seen regular fighting between the Taliban and government forces.
It came as the government and the Taliban are engaged in peace talks to end the war in the impoverished country that has killed tens of thousands of people in nearly two decades.
“Thirty bodies and 24 wounded have been taken to the hospital. All of them are security personnel,” Baz Mohammad Hemat, director of the Ghazni hospital, told AFP.
Interior Ministry spokesman Tariq Arian said a suicide bomber had detonated a vehicle filled with explosives.
“The attacker drove a Humvee into the base and detonated it,” Ghazni Governor Wahidullah Jumazada’s spokesman told AFP.
So far no group has claimed responsibility for the attack.
The Ghazni attack comes just days after two bombs killed 14 people in the historic city of Bamiyan, ending years of calm in the isolated city famous for its ancient Buddhist heritage.
In another suicide car bomb attack on Sunday, a civilian was killed and 20 others injured in the southern city of Qalat in Zabul province, provincial police chief Hekmatullah Kochi told AFP.
SURGERIES OF VIOLENCE
He said the attack targeted the vehicle of the head of the Zabul provincial council, Atta Jan Haqbayan, who was wounded.
Sunday’s bombings marked the latest carnage in Afghanistan, where violence has increased since the start of peace talks on September 12 in the Qatari capital Doha.
The brutal attacks have killed more than 50 people in Kabul in recent weeks, including two assaults on educational facilities and a rocket attack.
The three Kabul attacks were claimed by the Islamic State group, but Afghan officials blamed the Taliban, who denied any involvement.
The Taliban have launched daily attacks against Afghan forces despite participating in the peace talks.
The talks had been bogged down by disputes over the agenda, basic framework for discussions and religious interpretations, but now an agreement has been reached on all issues, according to sources close to the talks.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo called for “expedited discussions” during a visit to Doha last week, during which he met with negotiators from the Afghan and Taliban governments.
The Pentagon said earlier this month that it would soon withdraw about 2,000 troops from Afghanistan, speeding up the schedule for a full withdrawal to May 2021, as agreed with the Taliban in a separate agreement signed in February.
