Civilians are in dire straits amid a cascade of insurgent attacks across the country. It seems peace talks buoyed the Taliban and ceded them unbridled liberty to do the opposite of what they had to
By Farhad Naibkhel
KABUL: At least 13 people, mostly civilians, were killed and 100 others wounded in a suicide car bombing on Sunday in western Ghor province.
An explosives-laden car detonates near the entrance of provincial police chief’s headquarters and other government buildings in Firoz Koh, capital city of Ghor province, said Interior Ministry spokesman Tariq Aryan.
“The bombing killed 12 civilians and injured 100 others,” he said.
However, the head of Ghor’s Health Directorate, Joma Gul Yaqobi, said 13 people were killed and 95 injured and the wounded were shifted to hospital.
The attack in Ghor is the latest in a string of deadly terrorist attacks across Afghanistan which comes amid an uptick in violence by the Taliban.
Early last week, the Taliban staged a full-blown offensive in southern Helmand province, forcing tens of thousands of people to flee conflict zones that spanned across the province – the biggest militant attack since a peace deal was hammered out between the Taliban and the United States.
Both American forces and the Taliban were bound to work to normalize security situation and refrain from engaging in attacks against each other. The U.S. had also vowed to halt all strikes and night raids in keeping with the peace agreement.
But the U.S. had been conducting air strikes in support of Afghan forces trying to repel Taliban assaults in Helmand province, which threatened to derail efforts to end Afghanistan’s war. This is as the Afghan government officials and the Taliban representatives have been holding their first-ever face-to-face talks in Qatar, meant to end the country’s decades-long war.