At least four Afghan civilians have been killed and four American troops injured as a car bomber attacked a foreign military convoy in the capital Kabul.
The bomber drove his explosive-laden car into the convoy of US forces in the busy Jalalabad road in eastern Kabul early Friday morning, said interior ministry spokesman Nasrat Rahimi.
“Unfortunately in the attack, four of our countrymen were martyred and several others wounded — they were passers-by,” he said.
“This is our initial information and the figures will likely change,” Rahimi added.
The Taliban militant group said it was behind the attack, according to the group’s spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid, who claimed the militants killed “10 officers and soldiers of invading forces.”
The attack came only a day after an attack an Afghan army military academy — claimed by Daesh — claimed the lives of at least six people.
The capital Kabul has been on high alert with security checkpoints reinforced in recent days.
The Taliban have stepped up attacks on security installations in their so-called spring offensive despite being involved in direct talks with the United States, rejecting calls by the US’s chief negotiator Zalmay Khalilzad to lay down arms.
The country has long been struggling to stop scores of deadly attacks by the militant group almost across the country over the past months.
A sixth round of talks between the US and Taliban recently ended in the Qatari capital, Doha, with no progress. The Taliban have said peace negotiations were stumbling over the question of when foreign forces would depart the war-ravaged country, if they would at all.
“Decent progress” has been made in another round of talks between the Taliban and senior Afghan politicians in Moscow, but that there has been no breakthrough towards ending two decades of the US occupation of Afghanistan.
The Moscow meeting was opened on Tuesday by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, who said his country sees peace as the only possible scenario of settlement in Afghanistan.
Taliban delegates reiterated their position that no ceasefire could be possible while foreign forces remained inside Afghanistan.
Moscow appears to be gaining influence in the ongoing peace process. Last month, the US announced that Washington had reached a consensus with Russia and China on the key formula for a peace deal it is negotiating in Afghanistan.
The Taliban’s five-year rule over in Afghanistan came to an end following the US invasion in 2001. However, 18 years on, Washington is seeking truce with the militants, who still control large swathes of territory in the country.
Source: Sputnik
