Taliban claim bombings in Afghanistan

The Taliban says it carried out two bomb attacks on a NATO convoy in Afghanistan, in which at least five people were killed.

The Taliban has claimed responsibility for two bomb attacks targeting NATO military convoys in Afghanistan, in which at least five people were killed.

In the first, a suicide bomber detonated his explosives-filled car close to a convoy of NATO troops in Jalalabad city in the eastern province of Nangarhar, police and health officials said on Friday.

"The attack targeted a foreign troop convoy near the airport," said Hazrat Hussain Mashreqiwal, provincial police spokesman.

A provincial health official who asked not to be named said that four civilians were killed and 13 wounded. The bomber also died.

Hours afterwards, another bomber blew up his car, targeting NATO troops in the capital Kabul.

Gul Agha Rouhani, deputy police chief for the city said the attack occurred in the eastern part of the capital.

"Three civilians have been injured," he said.

"The target in Jalalabad was the Resolute Support mission," said Colonel Chris Belcher, a NATO official. "All the victims of today's Taliban attack were Afghan civilians," he said.

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said his group was behind the two attacks, adding that US forces were the target.

In the south-eastern province of Ghazni, meanwhile, a mini-van was hit by a roadside bomb which killed 12 civilians.

Mohammad Ali Ahmadi, deputy provincial governor, said all the passengers, six of them women and children, were killed in the bombing.

No one has claimed responsibility for the bombing, but planting roadside bombs is a frequent Taliban tactic.

Meanwhile, the number of dead from Thursday's attack on a courthouse in Mazar-e-Sharif city in the northern province of Balkh has risen to 18, police said.

Balkh is considered one of the safe provinces in Afghanistan, with security incidents relatively rare.


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Source: AAP



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