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A bomb planted in the vehicle of a former Tolo TV presenter from Afghanistan exploded, killing the journalist and two other civilians, Kabul police said.
Yama Siawash’s death is under investigation after Saturday’s explosion, said police spokesman Ferdaws Faramarz. No one has immediately claimed responsibility.
Siawash had recently started working with Afghanistan’s central bank and was in a bank vehicle along with another high-level employee, Ahmadullah Anas, and the driver, Mohammad Amin. All were killed in the blast, Faramarz said.
Violence and chaos have escalated in Afghanistan in recent months, including as government negotiators and the Taliban meet in Qatar to end decades of relentless warfare in the country. The two sides have made little progress.
Washington’s peace envoy for Afghanistan, Zalmay Khalilzad, has been pushing for an agreement on a reduction in violence or a ceasefire, which the Taliban have refused, saying a permanent truce would be part of the negotiations.
The talks were part of a negotiated agreement between the United States and the Taliban to allow US and NATO troops to withdraw from Afghanistan, ending 19 years of military engagement.
According to initial reports, Siawash was near his home when the bomb attached to his car exploded. A witness, Mohammad Rafi, said Siawash’s father and brother were the first to reach the vehicle that was engulfed in flames. Rafi said the three dead were inside the car.
Siawash was a former host who hosted political shows on Tolo TV.
Separately on Saturday, a suicide bomb attack in the southern province of Zabul killed two civilians, according to police spokesman Hikmatullah Kochai. Kochai said that the police, acting on the basis of intelligence reports, intercepted the vehicle that was detonated by the bombers from inside. More than one assailant was inside the vehicle, he said. Seven civilians were injured in the attack.
In southern Kandahar, a platform carrying several farmers hit a roadside mine, killing five and injuring at least two others, said Bahir Ahmadi, a spokesman for the provincial governor of Kandahar.
